Hodgkinson and Duplantis outstanding in Birmingham
Keely Hodgkinson produced a real statement of intent as she brought the house down with another memorable 800m performance at an entertaining and boisterous Müller Indoor Grand Prix in Birmingham on Saturday (February 19).
In the final track event of the day, the Olympic silver medallist was roared on by a full house at the Utilita Arena as she began her competitive year with a hugely impressive victory over a quality field in 1:57.20 – not only a British indoor record but also the fastest indoor 800m performance by a woman in 20 years.
The 19-year-old will leave her teens behind next month and it so happens that the day she was born – March 3, 2002 – was when the current women’s 800m indoor world record of 1:55.82 was set by Jolanda Čeplak.
While that mark wasn’t expected to come under threat this weekend, for Hodgkinson to have produced the quickest time since that performance from the Slovenian two decades ago speaks volumes.
Her margin of victory was over two seconds, with Australian Catriona Bisset also clocking a national record (1:59.46) while Jamaican Natoye Goule, who had been the world leader going into this event, ran 1:59.85.
"I wrote down the aims for this year and one of them was a British indoor record," grinned Hodgkinson, now sixth on the all-time indoor lists.
"I was 100 per cent in shape for this record and I just wanted to go for it and there were some good girls in that race. I've never run in front of a British crowd this big and it was such a comfortable environment."
Another athlete who appears supremely comfortable in the spotlight is Mondo Duplantis and, moments after the dust had settled from Hodgkinson’s run, he was targeting a pole vault world record in the last action of the programme.
Having cleared a world-leading stadium record of 6.05m at the final attempt, the Olympic and European champion immediately set the bar at 6.19m as he looked to surpass the 6.18m he cleared at this meeting in Glasgow two years ago.
His opening two attempts failed but, when it came to the third, for a moment it looked as if he had created history again. The jubilant spectators began to get to their feet in celebration but, just as they did, the bar wobbled and fell. The world record will have to wait – but surely it won’t be long.
"I've got mixed emotions,” said Duplantis. “6.05m is a good jump and result but I really wanted that 6.19m. I have expectations of myself and I know there are good conditions indoors so I can break the world record, I want it so badly.
"I appreciated that everyone who stayed and it's a cool feeling where the attention is just on you."
The 2016 Olympic champion Thiago Braz got closest to Duplantis with a vault of 5.81m ahead Belgian Ben Broeders’ 5.71m.
The 60m hurdles currently has an equally dominant force in the form of Grant Holloway, the American world record-holder who breezed to victory in 7.41. Birmingham favourite and world indoor champion Andrew Pozzi led the fight for second, in a season’s best of 7.59, with Jarret Eaton third in 7.60. There was also a PB of 7.63 for Britain’s David King in fifth.
Netherlands’ Zoe Sedney won the women’s contest in 8.02 from Ditaji Kambundji’s 8.05 and 8.12 from Denmark’s Mathilde Heltbech Steenberg.
The first British success of the day for the crowd to celebrate came when University of Birmingham athlete Isabelle Boffey produced a surprise win in the women’s 1000m. The focus had been on Jemma Reekie, who had stepped into the event to replace her injured training partner Laura Muir, and the Olympic 800m fourth placer was firmly at the head of affairs for much of the race.
However, after a rapid opening 600m of 1:31.23, the lactic began to take its effect and she was reeled in. European U23 800m champion Boffey seized her chance to win in a PB of 2:38.25, just ahead of Pole Angelika Cichocka’s PB of 2:38.57. German Katharina Trost was third in 2:38.62, while Reekie finished sixth in 2:39.74.
Another home performance to really grab some attention was the European U20 record-breaking 400m managed by Ed Faulds, who is proving himself to be a very exciting talent. A second-lap surge took the European junior champion to third, as he threw himself over the line in 46.16 behind Kahmari Montgomery’s 45.72 and Liemarvin Bonevacia’s 46.08.
Jamaican world bronze medallist Stephenie Ann McPherson took the women’s race in a PB of 51.39 to overhaul the Netherlands’ Lieke Klaver (51.49). Poland’s Justyna Swiety-Ersetic was third in 52.09.
In the lead-up to this World Indoor Tour Gold meeting, there had been talk that another British record – Peter Elliott’s long-standing 1500m mark of 3:34.20 – could come under threat. However, the challenge for it failed to materialise as Jake Wightman, who has only recently been recovering from Covid, stepped off the track around the halfway mark and Neil Gourley faded off the pace.
It was left to George Mills to mount a British challenge and his fine PB of 3:36.03 took him to fourth. A pulsating race had played out in front of him, as a brilliant late kick from Kenya’s Abel Kipsang saw him finish first in a PB of 3:34.57 ahead of in-form Spaniard Adel Mechaal’s PB of 3:35.30 and a best of 3:35.44 from German Robert Farken.
In addition, Ossama Meslek of Leeds City broke Guiseppe D'Urso's long-standing Italian record with 3:37.29. The Leeds City athlete was a late entry into the race and had recently lost his spikes at an event in Metz, so he borrowed a pair of Hodgkinson's racing spikes – coincidentally they are both UK size 7 – and set a national record moments before she followed suit with one of her own.
The women’s 1500m was won in a season’s best of 4:04.35 by Ethiopian Dawit Seyaum from Irishwoman Sarah Healy’s PB 4:06.94 and a best from Linden Hall of 4:07.36. There were also World Indoor Championships qualifying marks of 4:08.68 and 4:08.90 for Amy-Eloise Markovc and Erin Wallace of in fourth and fifth place respectively.
In the men’s 800m, British indoor record-holder Elliot Giles was just denied victory by Collins Kipruto, the Kenyan clocking 1:45.39 to edge the Briton (1:45.42) as Spaniard Alvaro de Arriba took third in 1:45.82. Guy Learmonth clocked a world indoors qualifying time of 1:46.46 in fourth.
The short sprints proved to be eventful, as Olympic 100m and 200m champion Elaine Thompson-Herah won the women’s 60m in 7.08, being pushed by an excellent PB of 7.11 by Britain's Olympic finalist Daryll Neita. Mujinga Kambundji was third in 7.13. Despite initially being credited with a PB of 7.15 in the results, British indoor champion Amy Hunt appeared to suffer a serious injury a she stuttered her way to seventh and an adjusted time of 7.64.
An incredibly tight men’s 60m saw a PB from 100m world champion Noah Lyles proving enough to take first place over fellow American Ronnie Baker as both clocked 6.55. Elijah Hall (6.56) completed the USA top three, while Britain’s Charlie Dobson ran the fastest 60m of his life with 6.59 for fifth, the same time as sixth-placed Andrew Robertson and inside the World Indoors standard.
Two all-British Para Mixed Ambulant sprints were incorporated into the programme, with Zac Shaw producing a British T12 60m record of 7.01 to beat T38 Paralympic champion Thomas Young, who improved his PB – which was set less than 24 hours earlier at the BUCS Championships – to 7.03. T46 athlete Emmanuel Oyinbo-Coker was third in 7.22.
T38 star Sophie Hahn dominated the women’s contest, winning in 8.11 from T20 athlete Faye Olszowka in 8.26 and a PB of 8.46 from Madeline Down.
The women’s high jump was the opening field event of the programme and was won convincingly by Australian Eleanor Patterson, just days after she set and Oceania record of 1.99m. Her winning height this time was 1.97m as she came perilously close to getting over 2m for the first time in her career.
Behind her, Olympic and world champion Mariya Lasitskene and Britain’s Laura Zialor were locked on 1.91m, a PB height for the Briton.
Sweden’s Khaddi Sagnia was a clear winner of the women’s long jump as she reached 6.70m, with Akela Jones (6.52m) just taking second from Ivana Vuleta (6.51m).
For full event results, click here.
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