Keely Hodgkinson was relieved to purge the boredom from her system after qualifying comfortably for the world 800m semi-finals as the winner of her heat in Tokyo.
The 23-year-old Olympic champion arrived at these championships with a world-leading time, despite only racing twice since returning to the track following a year-long absence after her Paris triumph last summer.
Georgia Hunter Bell, Hodgkinson’s training partner who collected 1500m bronze in France, also won her heat on the sixth night of competition in Japan, where she has elected to focus on the shorter distance.
Calm and composed 😤
— British Athletics (@BritAthletics) September 18, 2025
Keely Hodgkinson wins her 800m heat in a time of 1:59.79.
The semi-finals will take place tomorrow 👀#NovunaGBNI #WCHTokyo25 #WorldAthleticsChamps pic.twitter.com/DMJF8xLYV5
“I’ve been losing my mind,” said Hodgkinson, who crossed the finish line in 1:59.79.
“I’ve been so bored just waiting for it to come around, so I was really excited to get out there tonight and it’s our turn to have some fun and get on the stage.
“It’s a heat, it wasn’t anything special, like, super dominant or anything. It was just get the job done. I don’t like the heats.
“It can feel worse running 1:59 than it does when I’m running 1:55, so I’m just happy I’m through.
The skies opened over the Japan National Stadium the night after Jake Wightman ended Great Britain’s medal drought with 1500m silver.
The downpour and accompanying breeze came as welcoming relief to perhaps everyone but Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone, who came agonisingly close to breaking Marita Koch’s 40-year-old 400m world record of 47.60s under the unfavourable conditions as she claimed gold.
The American, who successfully defended her Olympic 400m hurdles gold in Paris, blazed to a championship record 47.78s on the flat, while Great Britain’s Amber Anning placed fifth with a season’s-best 49.36s.
The Dominican Republic’s Marileidy Paulino took silver in a national record 47.98s and Bahrain’s Salwa Eid Naser was the bronze medallist in 48.19s.
McLaughlin-Levrone’s time was good enough for the second-fastest in history, and Paulino knocked Czech athlete Jarmila Kratochvilova out of a top three she had occupied for 42 years.
Anning said: “It is just amazing where 400s has come in the last couple of years, I remember five years ago my time would have been on the podium.
“It makes me want to step up my game, and I want to be able to be amongst that time. To see it (two women under 48s) done, it just gives hope to us all; anything is possible.”
Zharnel Hughes, the world 100m bronze medallist in 2023, booked his place in the 200m final by finishing second in his heat in 19.95s behind American defending champion Noah Lyles, who set a new world lead of 19.51s.
There will be two Britons in the women’s 200m final after Dina Asher-Smith and Amy Hunt both made it through their semis, while Daryll Neita missed out.
Hunt was third-quickest of all the semi-finalists in a personal best 22.08s and Asher-Smith, the 2019 world champion, seventh-fastest in 22.21s.
Max Burgin booked his place in the 800m final second from his heat in 1:43.37, but after leading late on was pipped to the finish after a fantastic kick by Cian McPhillips, who set a new Irish national record of 1:43.18, also the quickest overall.
Ben Pattison, the 2023 bronze medallist, did not make it through.
High jumper Morgan Lake became the first British woman to clear two metres three weeks ago at the Diamond League final in Zurich, and qualified for the final in Tokyo as one of just four women with successful attempts over 1.92m.
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