Hutchinson triumphs on a trail blazed by only two other women in Team Great Britain history

Every runner in the finals of the women's 800 meter race was a powerhouse. Eight women had a brutal endurance test ahead of them and there were some likely contenders for the medals. 2023 World Champion Mary Moraa represented Kenya with a finishing time of 1:57.42. Tsige Duguma of Ethiopia took the World Championship in this meter in 2024 and clocked in .27 seconds ahead of her at 1:57.15.

Unstoppable and Untouchable

Bursting across the finish line with hair flying from Lane 5 was 22-year-old Wigan native, Keely Hodgkinson. She took home a silver medal in Tokyo in 2021, the same year that she broke the world record for 800 meters in the under-20 age group. Two months later, she was the youngest British athlete to win a gold medal in the European Indoor championships. Before all of that, she was the first junior woman to break the two-minute barrier in the 800 meter at the age of 16.

Her gold medal-winning performance was 1:56.72 and it made her just the third female member of Team Great Britain to win gold in this sport. As proudly reported by Team Great Britain's site:

"The 22-year-old raced clear of the field with 50m to go and crossed the line in a time of 1:56.72 to take the line and fulfil he pre-race favourite tag....and with Moraa sat on her shoulder coming around the final bend, Hodgkinson kicked on to take the gold and make history on the athletics track and even had hance to crack a glance at the big screen."

- Sportsbeat 2024

He emotional reaction to her victory was well-earned. Said Hodgkinson, "I've worked so hard over the last year and you could see how much it meant to me as I crossed that line."

She had plenty of people cheering her on as the BBC showed friends and family gathered ahead of the race at the Leigh Athletic Club to watch Hodgkinson's race.

Third of her kind

The first time a British woman won the 800 meter gold medal was another 22-year-old born in March. Ann Packer, a physical education teacher in Surrey, clocked in at 2:01.1 in 1964. This was when, according to Packer, "Middle distance running for women was still in its infancy and the 800 m had only been run in Rome four years earlier."

Forty years later, Kelly Holmes followed in Packer's footsteps at the Athens 2004 games. She also became Britain's first double gold medalist in 84 years, taking home her other gold medal in the 1500 meter race.

We hope to see this proud tradition for British women continue in games to come.