It has not been the greatest world championships for Britain so far, with only Jake Wightman’s 1500m silver medal lifting the gloom. But on Thursday the cavalry finally arrived in the form of Keely Hodgkinson.
The Olympic 800m champion has been so bored in her hotel in the 35c heat she has even taken to staging playful indoor races with her training partner, Georgia Hunter Bell. But she dusted off the cobwebs in qualifying comfortably for Friday’s semi-finals in 1min 59.79sec. “I don’t like the rounds,” she said. “They feel awful. It was not pretty or fast tonight but I am safely through.”
Hunter-Bell also made it though by winning her heat, but Jemma Reekie is out after finishing fifth.
Britain also have strong hopes for a medal in the men’s 800m after Max Burgin breezed into Saturday’s final in second place in 1:43.47. “In the race, I actually felt like I had loads left, to be fair,” he said. “So I think the way the heat went, it’s a good sign that it felt easy enough for me to think: ‘Oh, we better push this up.’ In the final I’m still hoping for a medal.”
Asked whether that medal could be gold, he said: “I think on my day, I definitely can. I know what that 1:42 low pace feels like, even if it gets pushed down to 1:41 I should be comfortable sticking with it.”
He added: “I’ve been running fast-paced races in the Diamond League all year up with these lads, so there’s no reason that I shouldn’t be up with them in this final.”
Two Britons made Friday’s final of the women’s 200m, with Amy Hunt running a personal best of 22.08 to finish as the third fastest qualifier. Dina Asher-Smith also made it through, but Daryll Neita is out.
“I wanted this final so much, no matter what,” said Hunt. “I had to beat those girls. It’s so special to do my PB here to make it to the final.”
On a better night for British athletes, Hannah Nuttall made the women’s 5,000m final after finishing seventh in 14:48.09. “I was thinking: ‘You’ve got to get on it, and if you die, you die, but you’re going to die trying,’” she said.
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