Keely Hodgkinson wins silver in thrilling Athing Mu battle at World Championships
Great Britain’s Keely Hodgkinson clinched a gritty silver on the final day of the World Championships.
The 20-year-old adds to her Olympic silver medal from last year after running a season’s best of one minute 56.38 seconds in Eugene.
She was beaten to gold by the USA’s Athing Mu, who also took victory at the Tokyo Olympics last year, with Kenya’s Mary Moraa third.
Hodgkinson was ahead with 700m to go by 0.03 seconds but Mu rallied in the final 100m and managed to squeeze her British rival out just before the line.
The medal is Great Britain’s sixth at the World Championships in America, which ends on Sunday.
After Tokyo, sponsor Barrie Wells treated her to a spin in an Aston Martin but, this time, Hodgkinson only wanted to toast gold.
“I don’t deserve it (the Aston Martin). I have to earn that one,” she said, ahead of running in the Commonwealth Games next week.
“This year all I had on my mind was the gold. It definitely shows the expectations I’ve got for myself.
“I’m definitely a little bit annoyed but being on another world podium in my second year of being in the professional world of athletics is something I should be proud of.
“I’m grateful to be a part of it and grateful to be challenging for gold medals. I never thought I’d be doing that aged 20 and with another 20-year-old. I have a lot of respect for her but I’m obviously gutted.
“I came here to win the gold and it didn’t happen. “It shows I have improved from last year,” she said. “That’s what you try to do. Unfortunately, it wasn’t good enough this time but the gap’s closing and hopefully one day I’ll get there.
“I took the shortest route. I sat in, bided my time. I was confident. I don’t think I did anything wrong, it just wasn’t my time.
“We (her and Mu) don’t race each other that much, which I think is a good thing because it builds up the tension of the across-the-pond rivalry. I think we can push each other to new heights trying to get on top. We’ll see what happens.”
