Keely Hodgkinson could not deliver Great Britain’s first gold medal of the World Athletics Championships on the final day of action in Tokyo, despite a valiant bid, ending up with bronze in the women’s 800m. The Olympic champion looked comfortable through the rounds and was the favourite to add a world title, having taken silver at the previous two editions. However, she ran out of steam in the final stages as Kenya’s Lilian Odira stormed to gold in a championship record 1:54.62, with Hodgkinson’s teammate Georgia Hunter Bell pipping her to silver by one hundredth of a second in 1:54.90.
Britain’s frustrating championships ended with no gold medals, despite two medals in the women’s 800m final. The team’s only other podium finishes were Amy Hunt (women’s 200m silver), Jake Wightman (men’s 1500m silver) and Katarina Johnson-Thompson (heptathlon bronze). Morgan Lake fell short in the women’s high jump, George Mills finished last in the men’s 5000m, and the women’s 4x100m team finished fourth after sloppy baton changes.
Hodgkinson, returning from a 376-day injury absence after becoming Olympic champion, said: “I thought I had it, but she came past. I did my best to hold on. In that last 10m my legs were falling off a little bit because the first lap was so quick. I ran it how I ran it and this is what the result is.” She added: “I was in it to win it and when you do go for the gold, you do risk coming off the podium. I am proud of both of us. It is my third 1:54, so to be consistent through that this year is what I am really happy with. It is not what I came here for, but I can’t be too disappointed.”
In the men’s 4x400m relay, Botswana produced a brilliant performance to win in atrocious conditions, edging out the United States and South Africa in a blanket finish to become the first African winners of the event. The US, winners of nine of the last 10 world titles, took silver from South Africa by two thousandths of a second. The US women’s 4x400m team resumed normal service with individual 400m champion Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone anchoring them to gold, as Jamaica took silver and the Netherlands bronze.
