Keely Hodgkinson eases to victory in 800m Olympic heat as Team GB superstar advances in quest for athletics gold medal

She waved to the camera and then waved goodbye to the rest of the field. Keely Hodgkinson is up and running at these Olympics and she was imperious on the purple track last night.

The 22-year-old is the overwhelming favourite to win the 800 metres here on Monday night. And she showed just why she is so fancied in her first-round heat, cruising to victory in a time of 1min 59.31sec.

‘I hate heats, they are just awful, they are where you can get caught out and mistakes can be made,’ said Hodgkinson, the silver medallist from Tokyo 2020 and the fastest woman over 800m in the world this year. 

‘For me, heats are worse than a final, so I am just happy to get through safely, no problems and into the semi-finals.’

Hodgkinson’s smile and wave on the start line showed she is totally relaxed on the Stade de France stage. The same could not quite be said for her 17-year-old team-mate Phoebe Gill, who admitted being a bag of nerves all day.

Hodgkinson never looked to be in any danger as she eased to a place in the semi-finals

Gill is the youngest British track and field Olympian since 1980 and had watched comedy-drama series Gilmore Girls in the athletes’ village to try and keep her mind off the evening ahead.

However, when it was finally her time to run, she did so brilliantly, finishing third in her heat in 1:58.83, to join Hodgkinson and Jemma Reekie – who won her heat – in the semi-finals.

17-year-old Phoebe Gill admitted she was a bag of nerves before her heat but qualified for the semi-finals by finishing third

‘I am so happy I got through, I can’t believe it,’ said Gill. ‘I was in my room trying not to hyperventilate in the day, watching Gilmore Girls. I got ready five hours before because I needed something to put my mind on.’

Dina Asher-Smith, Daryll Neita and Imani-Lara Lansiquot will all contest tonight’s women’s 100m semi-finals as they bid to make the final at 8.20pm.

Neita, who finished last in the Tokyo 2020 final, was the most impressive of the British trio yesterday, winning her heat in 10.92sec – just 0.02sec off her personal best.

Asher-Smith – the world silver medallist in 2019 – clocked 11.01sec and also hopes to be in contention this evening, having failed to reach the final three years ago. ‘I’m excited to bring it,’ she said.