Keely Hodgkinson, with her brilliant young career, has consistently showcased speed and street smarts well beyond her years. She has defeated nearly everyone placed in front of her. However, on Friday night in Lausanne, Britain’s Olympic and world silver medalist found herself boxed in, and she was out-thought and outpaced, resulting in her first loss of the year.
On one of those rare nights, nothing went as expected. At the halfway point of the 800 metres, Keely Hodgkinson was in third place. When she attempted to move up into second place, the Kenyan Mary Moraa blocked her path and continued to cross her lane in order to prevent her from passing. After changing her pace, Moraa ran away to win in 1:57.43.
“I’m disappointed because I am better than that,” said Hodgkinson, who had won her previous 10 races in 2023. “I just didn’t get myself in the best position. And against an athlete like Mary, you cannot afford to do that.”
” 1:58.37 “
Hodgkinson’s time of 1:58.37 was more than two seconds slower than she had run in Paris three weeks ago, when she set the fastest time in the world this year. The good news for British ears is that she confirmed afterwards that there were no niggles to blame for her run. “Nothing changes for the rest of the season,” she added. “I am in great shape, this just wasn’t my day.
On another superb night of racing in the Diamond League, the Norwegian Jakob Ingebrigtsen continued his unbeaten season with victory over 1500m in 3:28.72, but Britain’s Olympic bronze medallist Josh Kerr was also impressive in coming third in a season’s best 3:29.64 while Elliot Giles was fifth in a personal best 3:31:56. Meanwhile in the women’s 100m Daryll Neita was second in 11.07, behind Marie-Josée Ta Lou who eased to victory in 10.88.
However, the race of the night came in the men’s 5,000m, as the Ethiopian Berihu Aregawi ran a series of 60-second laps before holding off the Olympic champion, Joshua Cheptegei, to a sprint finish to win in 12:40.45 – the fifth fastest time in history.