Keely Hodgkinson cruises into 800m semi-finals at World Championships

Keely Hodgkinson was relieved to purge the boredom from her system after qualifying comfortably for the world 800m semi-finals as the winner of her heat in Tokyo.

The 23-year-old Olympic champion arrived at these championships with a world-leading time, despite only racing twice since returning to the track following a year-long absence after her Paris triumph last summer.

Georgia Hunter Bell, Hodgkinson’s training partner who collected 1500m bronze in France, also won her heat on the sixth night of competition in Japan, where she has elected to focus on the shorter distance.

“I’ve been losing my mind,” said Hodgkinson, who crossed the finish line in 1:59.79.

“I’ve been so bored just waiting for it to come around, so I was really excited to get out there tonight and it’s our turn to have some fun and get on the stage.

“It’s a heat, it wasn’t anything special, like, super dominant or anything. It was just get the job done. I don’t like the heats.

“It can feel worse running 1:59 than it does when I’m running 1:55, so I’m just happy I’m through.”

Hodgkinson has partially killed the downtime watching the “unhinged but so good” Tyler Perry Netflix series Beauty in Black.

Last week, the Atherton athlete admitted she had been unsure she would be at these championships as late as June, and on Thursday night revealed there was a period of time when she and her coaches were forced to take things “day by day, week by week.

“There was no plan. We were just going with what my body was reacting to,” she said. “Luckily we made it here, we did enough and I’m in this great place.

“And now it’s like, OK, get into a World Championships mindset when all year I wasn’t even sure if I was going to be here. It’s been interesting, it’s definitely been challenging, so I’m here for it.”

Hunter Bell won heat two in 1:58.82s, but Jemma Reekie did not make it through.

Zharnel Hughes, the world 100m bronze medallist in 2023, booked his place in the 200m final by finishing second in his heat in 19.95s behind American defending champion Noah Lyles, who set a new world lead of 19.51s.

There will be two Britons in the women’s 200m final after Dina Asher-Smith and Amy Hunt both made it through their semis, while Daryll Neita missed out.

Hunt was third-quickest of all the semi-finalists in a personal best 22.08s and Asher-Smith, the 2019 world champion, seventh-fastest in 22.21s.

Max Burgin booked his place in the 800m final second from his heat in 1:43.37, but after leading late on was pipped to the finish after a fantastic kick by Cian McPhillips, who set a new Irish national record of 1:43.18, also the quickest overall.

Ben Pattison, the 2023 bronze medallist, did not make it through.

High jumper Morgan Lake became the first British woman to clear two metres three weeks ago at the Diamond League final in Zurich, and qualified for the final in Tokyo as one of just four women with successful attempts over 1.92m.