Keely Hodgkinson produced a dominant performance in the Olympic 800m final to win her first ever gold medal.
The British 22-year-old lived up to her billing as favourite to end her wait for a global title at the Stade de France on Monday night.
Hodgkinson went one better at the Olympics after her silver as a teenager in Tokyo three years ago.
But the gold medal never looked in doubt this time around as she held off Kenyan rival Mary Moraa to convincingly claim gold.
Crossing the line in one minute 56.72 seconds, Hodgkinson’s joy was clear to see as she matched the feat achieved by Dame Kelly Holmes in 2004.
KEELY HODGKINSON IS AN OLYMPIC GOLD MEDALLIST 🥇✨
Nobody else even got close.#BBCOLYMPICS #PARIS2024 #OLYMPICS PIC.TWITTER.COM/BLD7GXUK8D
— BBC Sport (@BBCSport) AUGUST 5, 2024
The Wigan-born runner said: “I think that [the podium] is when it will sink in and you will see some real emotion from me.
“I have worked really hard for the last year and I think you can see how much it meant to me when I crossed the line. I can’t believe I have finally done it!
“To do it here, where better? The audience was incredible. It felt like a home crowd to me in itself in Paris, so yes I am super, super happy.”
Ethiopia’s Tsige Duguma won silver behind Hodgkinson, with world champion Moraa taking bronze.
Hodgkinson is the first to win athletics gold for GB since Sir Mo Farah won the 5,000m and 10,000m at Rio 2016, while she is only the 10th British woman to win gold.
