At the outset, every child runs simply for enjoyment. However, as they continue, a deeper motivation often emerges. Each of the eight women in the Olympic 800m final had her unique reason. For Juliette Whitaker from the USA, it stemmed from having parents who were track athletes; France’s Rénelle Lamote was inspired by a PE teacher; Kenya’s Mary Moraa ran as a means of commuting to school; and Keely Hodgkinson, hailing from Atherton, simply wanted to excel in whatever she could dominate.
Initially, Hodgkinson had the potential to be a swimmer — a talented one at that — but her parents convinced her that she had a better chance of success as a runner. That was all the incentive she needed to make the switch.
Just seven minutes prior to the final, a camera captured Hodgkinson seated in the call room alongside her fellow competitors. Her main rival, Moraa — last year’s world champion — appeared agitated, pacing back and forth in efforts to manage her energy. In contrast, Hodgkinson remained utterly still, her gaze focused, jaw set tight, and mouth downturned, seemingly unaffected by the cheers of the 70,000 spectators eagerly anticipating the event ahead. Her thoughts were singular: winning.
Hodgkinson has been contemplating this race since she was a 10-year-old who watched Jess Ennis-Hill conquer the heptathlon during the London 2012 Olympics. At that time, her interest in sports had waned, but that moment reignited her passion. Three years prior, she had already tasted the Olympic atmosphere, unexpectedly securing silver at just 19, finishing behind the USA’s own rising star, Athing Mu, in Tokyo. The excitement kept her awake for two nights fueled by adrenaline; it hardly felt like a loss.
However, the euphoria eventually faded. Silver was not her ultimate goal and never had been.
The following year, Hodgkinson raced Mu again at the world championships in Eugene. This time, she and her coach, Trevor Painter, devised a strategy. She stayed close to Mu for the initial 600m before attempting to pass her as Mu drifted to the outer lane on the final bend. They battled side by side along the home straight, but Mu’s longer stride proved too powerful, and Hodgkinson found herself settling for second place once more, the gap between them shrinking to a mere eight-hundredths of a second.
Now, Hodgkinson had more than just Mu to contend with. Moraa, 24 as of June, had recently transitioned from the 400m distance, encouraged by her friend and mentor, Hellen Obiri. Moraa had been right beside Mu during the Eugene race as well, prompting Hodgkinson to battle fiercely for second place. In a subsequent race at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, it was Moraa who ultimately caught Hodgkinson in the last 25m after Hodgkinson attempted to lead from the front.
Suddenly, the women’s 800m had evolved into a fierce three-way showdown. At the world championships in Budapest the following year, Mu led the trio into the home straight, with Moraa and Hodgkinson flanking her; Hodgkinson was attempting the same strategy that had nearly succeeded a year prior. This time, Hodgkinson managed to surpass Mu, but Moraa, running in the outer lane, surged ahead, clinching victory by three-tenths of a second.
Thus, after four years in her professional career, Hodgkinson found herself in four major finals, each time earning silver. She had experienced second place in every conceivable way, and it left her feeling frustrated.
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Moraa emerged as the primary contender against Hodgkinson in Paris. The remaining six women in the final lacked the competitive times Hodgkinson had recently been achieving, which placed her among the event’s all-time elite. Mu didn’t make it to the Games, having tripped and fallen at the US trials, and despite her efforts, she couldn’t rejoin the race. Hodgkinson expressed sympathy for Mu, yet she bore a noticeable smile while discussing her feelings.
In this race, Hodgkinson executed her plan flawlessly, taking the lead 200m in, just as she envisioned. Moraa was close on her heels, but Hodgkinson refused to allow her to draw level. As she entered the final bend, she accelerated once again and surged down the straightaway alone, leaving space between herself and the Ethiopian Tsige Duguma, who had passed Moraa as she struggled to find her speed.
Hodgkinson’s journey to that finish line demanded thousands of hours of hard work, countless miles of training, and a fair share of setbacks. Ultimately, she made victory appear so effortless that one could only ponder how she ever faced such challenges in the beginning.
