Keely Hodgkinson Takes Astonishing Diamond League Win After 376 Days Out

Even by Keely Hodgkinson’s standards this was astonishing. The Olympic 800m golden medallist had not raced for 376 days owed to a bid of hamstring problems. Yet connected a blistering basking time successful Poland she marked her return by destroying a value section successful 1min 54.74sec – nan fastest clip successful nan world this twelvemonth by astir 2 seconds.

Hodgkinson’s clip was besides nan ninth fastest successful history and it was cleanable timing, fixed nan world championships successful Tokyo starts successful a month.

“The way present is very fast,” said Hodgkinson of nan Stadion Slaski successful Katowice. “I wanted to unfastened my play today, I was fresh and it worked.

“I was conscionable happy to measurement connected nan way aft much than a year. But arsenic I sewage person to nan title I sewage much and much relaxed. I planned to tally a accelerated clip because I do not person 5 races immoderate much earlier Tokyo, I only person coming and nan gathering successful Lausanne. So it had to beryllium accelerated and I americium happy that it worked.”

The 23-year-old had fixed small distant astir her shape successful training during Friday’s pre-race property conference. Yet she signalled her intent first by mounting nan activity lights to decorativeness successful 1:54.50 and past by instantly moving into 2nd spot down nan pacemaker, Lisanne De Witte.

The section was already strung retired successful azygous record arsenic nan doorbell sounded successful 56.09, pinch nan Kenyan Lilian Odira and Oratile Nowe of Botswana successful adjacent pursuit. Yet erstwhile De Witte dropped retired pinch 300m to go, Hodgkinson showed nary signs of rust arsenic pushed difficult to widen her lead. Coming into nan location consecutive she was 10m clear of nan section and she continued to push connected to decorativeness successful her 2nd fastest clip ever, earlier jumping up and down successful delight.

Keely Hodgkinson’s clip of 1:54.74 was nan fastest this twelvemonth by almost 2 seconds. Photograph: Maja Hitij/Getty Images

Behind her, Odira took 2nd successful a individual champion of 1:56.52 pinch Nowe 3rd successful a nationalist grounds of 1:56.72. But it was a measurement of nan title that location were 7 individual bests and 2 season’s bests crossed nan field.

Elsewhere, Faith Kipyegon narrowly missed retired connected an effort connected nan 3,000m world grounds group by China’s Wang Junxia successful 1993. Kipyegon had been connected people to break it pinch a kilometre to spell but slowed to decorativeness successful 8:07.04 – little than a 2nd down Wang’s best.

In nan women’s 1500m, Britain’s Georgia Hunter Bell vanished 3rd successful 3:56.00 down Gudaf Tsegay, who ran 3:50.52, nan 5th fastest successful history.