GOLD for Keely Hodgkinson - Days 5-6 at the Olympic Games

As we journey further into the track and field action at the Olympic Games, the excitement builds with more medals on offer for our English athletes. Day five saw 800m queen Keely Hodgkinson (Leigh, Trevor Painter), execute an exemplary race to etch her name into the history books as Olympic champion!

Day 5

Arguably one of the most anticipated races of the Olympics, all eyes were on Keely Hodgkinson on Monday evening as she toed the line in the 800m final. Qualifying with the fastest time on paper, she was the hot favourite and she indeed lived up to that, executing the perfect race to take the title. From the break Keely was battling for front spot, remaining composed. Hitting the bell in just over 58 seconds, there was plenty more in the tank as she continued to up the pace. With 100m to go it was down to Kenya's Mary Moraa, Keely and Tsige Duguma of Ethiopia with Hodgkinson a league above the other two taking the crown. After the race, an elated Keely said:

"That was absolutely incredible. I've worked so hard over the last year and you could see how much it meant to me as I crossed the line. I can't believe I've finally done it. It means so much to me. And to do it here, where better? The audience was absolutely incredible, it felt like a home crowd to me. So I'm super happy."

Day 5 also saw two big qualifications in the women's 400m for Laviai Nielsen (Enfield & Haringey, Tony Lester) and Amber Anning (Brighton & Hove) finishing in 50.36 (2nd) and 49.68 (1st) respectively. Victoria Ohuruogu battled a tough heat to finish 4th in 50.93, before making it through to the semi-final after a successful repechage.

Jessie Knight (Windsor, Slough, Eton & Hounslow, Marina Armstrong) grabbed her repechage opportunity with both hands in the 400m hurdles. Powering off the final barrier, in a photofinish Jessie was named as second finisher with the big Q in 55.10.

The women had a challenging morning in the pole vault qualification with both Holly Bradshaw (Blackburn, Kate Rooney) and Molly Caudery (Thames Valley, Stuart Caudery) unable to progress through to the final. After the event, Caudery expressed her disappointment:

"I am currently in a bit of shock. I am so disappointed. I don’t have any excuse. I felt great and in the best shape of my life, I loved the big crowd, I didn’t feel overly nervous, I don’t have a reason right now for what just happened. This is going to take a bit of time to process."

After a difficult build-up to the Olympic Games plagued with injury, Lawrence Okoye (Croydon, Zane Duquemin) threw a respectable 61.17m, but it was not enough to make the final.

Day 6

In a race that saw a brand-new Olympic record, the women's 3000m steeplechase was all to play for in terms of times for Lizzie Bird (Shaftesbury Barnet, Pat McCurry). As the African nations kept upping the pace, it split the race fairly quickly with Lizzie chasing down previous world champion, Beatrice Chepkoech in the closing stages. Lizzie seemed to not be slowing and with an excellent last 100m her efforts were rewarded with an outstanding new personal best and national record of 9:04.35 for 7th place. After the race she said:

"I’m happy, I’m feeling some mixed emotions right now. I was hoping for maybe a higher finish. I think on a different day I could’ve been closer to 9minutes. It was the best that I could do today. It was so amazing to be out there. I was trying to take that in a little bit more than usual. The crowd was so loud, especially the last few laps. It was a lot of fun."

After booking their final spots on day 5, Dina Asher-Smith (Blackheath & Bromley) and Daryll Neita (Cambridge Harriers, Marco Ariale) contested the 200m final. It was a great redemption run from Dina as she shot around the bend at lightning speed, but just unable to keep up the pace as event favourite Gabby Thomas cruised on past. It was really down to the wire as Neita, Asher-Smith and USA's Brown all lunged for the line, unfortunately with Brown taking third spot ahead of the Brits. Both women can be proud as they finished with Dina in fourth and Daryll in fifth (22.22 and 22.23). Speaking on the disappointment of the 100m, Dina seemed much happier with her performance in the 200m:

"I just really enjoyed that. I got told ‘when the gun goes, just run’ and whatever happens, happens. It was a great race. I was so focused on my race, I had no idea where I finished. I’m still really disappointed about the 100m. But overall I am happy because I know I have been in a great place all season which is why I was so disappointed in the 100m, but for the first year with a new coach, this is a great platform to build on."

Jacob Fincham-Dukes (Leeds City, Matt Barton) was back to contest the men's long jump final. Qualifying in 8th place, it was all to play for. He started the competition strongly with his opening jump just 1cm below his highest qualifying mark. Into the second round, he made great contact with the board, leaping out to his furthest attempt of 8.14m. With a string of no jumps and a high 7m leap on the last round, it was a fantastic fifth place for Fincham-Dukes, who is supported by the England Athletics Senior Programme. Speaking on the electric atmosphere:

"It is something special out there. We have 70,000 people all going electric. It is other worldly. There was a sea of British flags. You almost feel personalised with each of them. I had them right there behind me and it felt amazing."

The big 1500m showdown between Scotland's Josh Kerr and Norway's Ingebrigtsen didn't pass without drama. With the world expecting an exciting battle between the two, nobody could have predicted a rapid finish from USA's Cole Hocker to take the title. On a very tight photofinish, it was Kerr who clinched the silver with Yared Nuguse from the USA taking bronze, leaving Ingebrigtsen in fourth and off the podium.

In the 400m semi finals Matt Hudson-Smith (Birchfield Harriers, Lance Brauman) showed his dominance as he heads into the final fourth fastest after easing down with 40m to go. Charlie Dobson (Colchester, Leon Baptiste) unfortunately will not make the final this time by 0.07. Over the 400m hurdles, a fall on the final barrier after a fantastically fast race meant Lina Nielsen (Shaftesbury, Tony Lester) won't be progressing further. After also racing the repechage round, Jessie Knight had an extra race in her legs and finished 6th in her semi with 54.90.

Pictures from World Athletics and Mark Shearman