Olympic champion looks at "doing something better" as she admits the warm-up set-up in Tokyo is not ideal.

Keely Hodgkinson says she will look at changing up her pre-race routine ahead of Sunday’s 800m final at the World Championships in Tokyo, insisting that the set-up in the Japanese capital can be “quite draining”.

An aspect of these championships is the fact that the warm-up track is at least a 15-minute drive away from the national stadium and has resulted in a lengthy overall build-up for the competitors. 

There seemed to be little wrong with Olympic champion Hodgkinson as she qualified convincingly from the last semi-final of Friday evening (September 19), finishing first in 1:57.53, the same time awarded to second-placed Sarah Moraa. 

However, Hodgkinson said: “It doesn't feel good out there. I think the whole warm-up situation – you're warming up for almost two hours – can be quite draining, so maybe I could look at doing something better when it comes to Sunday.”

There was contentment, however, at avoiding any mishaps – especially given the lengthy injury lay-off that has resulted in her having to sit out much of this year. After second-place finishes in 2022 and 2023, Hodgkinson is going in search of what would be her first world title.  

“This would mean more to me than [Olympic gold] last year. Just the journey here makes it that much sweeter,” she said. “And it's so difficult to get here anyway, and then to come here and perform, especially off the year that I've had. I'm grateful to be running, and I just want to put together a performance I'm proud of. I want to be able to say I left it all out there.”

She will be joined in that final by her training partner and fellow Briton Georgia Hunter-Bell, who qualified automatically in second place with 1:58.62 behind defending champion Mary Moraa (1:58.40) in the opening semi-final. 

A late burst from Kenya’s Lilian Odira took her to the win in the second heat with 1:56.85 ahead of Swtizerland’s Audrey Werro (1:56.99), but arguably the most impressive performance from that race came from Jess Hull. 

The Australian, who was pushed over and finished her heat with a gash on her leg, was reinstated after a protest and seized her chance, breaking the Oceania record with a run of 1:57.15. She will now aim to add an 800m medal to the 1500m bronze she already has to her name in Tokyo.