Keely Hodgkinson 'super excited' for 'special' Olympics after defending 800m title at European Athletics Championships
Updated 12/06/2024 at 22:52 GMT+1
Keely Hodgkinson struggled to hide her excitement for the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris this summer after she defended her 800m title at the European Athletics Championships in Rome on Wednesday. The 22-year-old overcame illness as she retained the gold medal she won in Munich two years ago. Great Britain also stormed to gold in the women's 4x100m relay.
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Great Britain's Keely Hodgkinson battled illness to retain her 800m gold medal at the European Athletics Championships in Rome on Wednesday.
Hodgkinson claimed her maiden European title in Munich two years ago and defended her crown in style at the Stadio Olimpico, crossing the line in a time of 1:58.65.
She finished ahead of Slovakia's Gabriela Gajanova and France's Anais Bourgoin, who won silver and bronze respectively, to claim Britain's third gold medal of the championships.
"I’m super excited for Paris," Hodgkinson told BBC Sport after the race.
"The next seven weeks are going to be incredible. I do believe in the power of manifestation, so it’s obviously something I think about.
"The Olympic Games are so special, a huge opportunity to change your life and I’m just ready to go for it."
Hodgkinson won silver medal in the 800m at the Tokyo Games in 2021 and will look for gold at the Paris Games, which start on July 26.
On Wednesday, the 22-year-old led the pack from the start and looked comfortable throughout. She was firmly in control until the final stretch where she had to fight off some late pressure to cross the line first.
Hodgkinson admitted she had suffered from illness in the build up to her 800m title defence.
"It was OK. I’ll be honest, I picked up an illness a little bit yesterday. Sometimes you’ve just got to find a way to win," she added.
"I wanted to go out and get a good time today but I'm happy with the win. I think I would’ve been disappointed if I didn’t try."
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There was more success for GB and Northern Ireland when the women's 4x100m relay team stormed to victory to win gold.
Dina Asher-Smith, Desiree Henry, Amy Hunt and Daryll Neita made up the quartet that delivered a European-leading time of 41.91 seconds.
Earlier this week Asher-Smith reclaimed her 100m gold medal, and she was just as sharp in the 4x100m relay as she gave Britain a strong lead with a blistering first leg, before Henry and Hunt sustained the lead for Neita to bring it home.
"That felt amazing, we are definitely trying new things before the Olympic Games," said Asher-Smith. "Obviously, we are looking to absolutely do amazing in Paris.
"We've got such a deep squad and so many amazing athletes, we are just trying things out. That was great, it was so slick and so smooth."
Neita, who was left "distraught" after missing out on gold in the 200m, added: "It felt absolutely amazing. Yesterday for me was amazing, I got a medal, but it was a bit bitter sweet and then this morning, the ladies really picked me up.
"To finish the championships with a gold medal with these amazing ladies, it’s just an incredible feeling, really electric and I really have a good feeling going into Paris."
Wednesday's triumph is the fourth European gold medal Britain have won in the women's 4x100m relay, after success in 1950, 2014 and 2018.
In the men's pole vault, world record holder Armand Duplantis claimed European gold for the third time in his career.
The 24-year-old, whose world record stands at 6.24m, comfortably overcame Emmanouil Karalis with a height of 5.97m.
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Armand Duplantis
Image credit: Getty Images
It was all too easy for Duplantis, as the Swede claimed the 'Golden Crown' when he set a championship record with 6.10m, comfortably clearing the target.
With the wind in his sails, Duplantis attempted to break his own world record with a vault at the 6.25m mark. However, after three respectable efforts, the American-born athlete failed to break the world record for the ninth time.
Elsewhere, Jakob Ingebrigtsen of Norway won gold in the men's 1500m by a comfortable margin.
He crossed the line in a championship record time of 3:31.95, beating Belgium's Jochem Vermeulen who set a personal best time to beat Italy's Pietro Arese to silver medal.
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Jakob Ingebrigtsen, European Athletics Championships, Norway
Image credit: Getty Images
Italy finished clear of the Netherlands and Germany to secure the title in the men's 4x100m at their home event, their 11th gold medal of the week.
Matteo Melluzzo, Marcell Jacobs, Lorenzo Patta and Filippo Tortu set the fastest time in Europe this season with an effort of 37.82s.
Meanwhile, Belgium claimed gold in the men's 4x400m final in another Europe-leading time.
The quartet of Jonathan Sacoor, Robin Vanderbemden, Dylan Borlee and Alexander Doom stormed to victory in a rapid time of 2:59.84.
Hosts Italy claimed an emotional silver when they narrowly edged Germany in a photo finish as the latter settled for bronze medal.
Great Britain were in contention for a medal for much of the race, but eventually finished seventh.
Alex Haydock-Wilson was part of a strong front three as the race headed for the final 100m, and with 50m to go looked in a strong position for a silver medal.
However, the 24-year-old began to fade and once he dropped out of the top three, slipped right back before eventually confirming a seventh-place finish.
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