Fourth for Dobbin in last race before Olympics

Beth Dobbin surged to fourth in the women’s 200 metres at the Diamond League leg in Stockholm yesterday in her last tune-up before the Tokyo Olympics.

The Scottish record holder, 27, clocked 22.84 seconds at the Bauhaus Galan meeting – the sixth-quickest time of her career – to finish just shy of her season’s best. Jamaica’s Shericka Jackson, expected to be one of Dina Asher-smith’s main rivals for gold in Japan later this month, took victory in 22.10. With Laura Muir and Jemma Reekie opting out of travelling to the Swedish capital, Keely Hodgkinson produced a European under-20 record of 1:57.51 that was still only good enough for fourth in the women’s 800m. The English teenager, who overhauled the Scots to take the British title in Manchester eight days ago, leapfrogged Lynsey Sharp to take third in the UK’S all-time rankings, with Cuba’s Rose Mary Almanza running the second-quickest time of 2021 of 1:56.28 to come out ahead. Olympics-bound Elliot Giles was third in the men’s 800m in Stockholm in a lifetime best of 1:44.05, elevating him to 11th in the UK all-time list, with Kenya’s Ferguson Rotich landing first place. “I just didn’t have that kick at the end – I almost had it,” the Brummie said. “But Rotich is a vet, isn’t he? He’s strong, so I couldn’t quite get there. I was a bit scatty. I was in a good position, but I was a bit surgy trying to get the inside lane.” Holly Bradshaw was runnerup in the women’s pole vault with a best of 4.61m, CJ Ujah came third in the men’s 100m in 10.10 secs, while Femke Bol’s Dutch record of 52.38 secs to win the 400m hurdles made her the fourth-fastest female in the event in history.