Keely Hodgkinson believes she is ready “to get what I want” in Monday’s Olympic final and upgrade the silver she won as an unknown teenager in Tokyo to historic gold.
The 22-year-old is unbeaten since narrowly losing in the World Championship final last August and again looked effortless in dominating her heat and qualifying fastest for the chance to follow Ann Packer, Steve Ovett and Kelly Holmes as a British 800m Olympic champion.
“I’ve been thinking about it every day for the past year,” Hodgkinson said. “I have to go out and do what I know I can do. If I can commit to that, I think I will get what I want. I really want to upgrade my silver. I think I am in the best shape physically, mentally and emotionally. But you never know. As you can see in the semi-finals, literally anything can happen.”
That was in reference to how pre-Olympic predictions of three Britons in the final disappeared inside the Stade de France when Jemma Reekie, who was fourth in Tokyo, and 17-year-old Phoebe Gill could not progress through three high quality semi-finals.
‘I get nervous the whole time’
Hodgkinson admitted there would be nerves when she steps out on Monday but said there will be no problem getting her usual 10 hours of sleep and does not expect to surface before 10am on Monday morning. Her race will start at 9.45pm local time (8.45pm in the UK).
“I get nervous the whole time,” said Hodgkinson. “The heat I was nervous, tonight I was nervous. Tomorrow is going to be the most fun. There’s no pressure. I’m already there. I’ll give my absolute everything and whatever comes of that comes.
“I’ve been getting 10 hours every night. I’ve changed my sleep a little bit because I’ve been racing so late. That will be my priority; to settle down as soon as I can. I can sleep all day if I want and just be ready at 9.45pm. I feel strong, my endurance is good – we’ll see what I’ve got.”
Hodgkinson, who was sporting eye-catching purple nails to match the Olympic track, said that they had been specially designed for her by sponsors Nike. “Really cool,” she said.
Reekie, who had run a personal 1min 55.61sec at the London Diamond League only two weeks ago, unexpectedly faded in the final 100m after looking in position to join Hodgkinson in the final. “Training has gone better than before,” she said. “I’m in the best shape of my life – I was coming here to fight for one of those medals but it’s the Olympics and it’s really tough. We are athletes at the end of the day, we are not going to have a perfect day every day.”