Great Britain’s Keely Hodgkinson claims first outdoor gold with 800m European Championships win

Great Britain’s Keely Hodgkinson won the 800m gold at the European Championships on Saturday, her first major outdoor title.

The 20-year-old took victory with a time of 1:59.04, taking the lead with 200m to go.

The victory comes on the back of her indoor 800m gold last year, and adds to her silver medals won at the Olympics Games, Commonwealth Games and World Championships.

“I think you can tell I was very happy to come here and finally get on top of the podium,” said Hodgkinson after the win.

“There is a great team around me that has helped me all season. It has been a hard year mentally, but we’ve made it to the end with a gold and two silvers, so I’m really happy.

“Trying to get that gold definitely helped. I think it’s just about trying to forget and move on from it. Now I can go home with three medals, I couldn’t be happier.

“There’s still a world indoor medal that I don’t have yet and I still have a lot of silvers, so we’re going to try and get some golds. I’ve still got a long way to go.”

France’s Renelle Lamote was a little under half a second behind to claim silver, and Poland’s Anna Wielgosz secured third.