Hodgkinson sets sights on equalling 2012 heroes

WHEN folk discuss the legacy of Super Saturday, they might not realise how it links to the athlete who stands to be the best of Britain for a decade.

It is necessary to think in those terms, for tonight, a decade and two days on from that crowning moment of London 2012, one of its viewers, Keely Hodgkinson, hopes to win a gold of her own at a home Commonwealth Games. That the Olympic and world 800metre silver medallist is an athlete at all is largely down to what she saw from Jessica Ennis-Hill on that storied night, with the inspiration of her heptathlon gold medal responsible for a 10-year-old Hodgkinson going back on a decision to quit the sport. Now 20, and favourite to win a tough 800m final, Hodgkinson recalls the significance of that night to her own life.

‘I did athletics for a bit, and then I actually quit,’ she said. ‘But I came back after seeing Jess being the female star of the London Olympics — I thought she was amazing. ‘Doing what she did was remarkable. She sent me a few messages before the Tokyo Olympics, I told her she was one of the reasons I went back.’ The upshot has been a middle-distance runner of such talent that experts put no limit on what she might achieve.

A clear opportunity exists tonight on a decisive day for a number of Britain’s best track runners, including world champion Jake Wightman in the 1500m, Laura Muir in the same 800m race and Zharnel Hughes in the 200m. There will be no Athing Mu, the US star who beat Hodgkinson at the Olympics and the worlds in Eugene, but as well as Muir, there is also Kenya’s Mary Moraa, who won bronze behind her in the US last month.