Hodgkinson earns Diamond League victory number three of the season in Oslo
Keely Hodgkinson earned a third Diamond League win in a row, and there were lifetime bests for Jake Wightman and Neil Gourley on a frantic night of action at the Bislett Games in Oslo for the Wanda Diamond League.
Keely Hodgkinson (handicap -1.8) won the battle of the British Olympic silver medallists as she comfortably won the women’s 800m with Laura Muir (handicap -1.7) in second.
Hodgkinson went through at the bell in around 57.20, and expertly led the field as the pacemaker stepped off the track, and although several athletes were lining up behind her on the final bend, she easily accelerated away to win in 1:57.71. Muir had to go wide with 150m to go to make a move to rbing her into contention, and it was a successful one as she came through for second in 1:58.09 ahead of Renelle Lamote (FRA), while Jemma Reekie (handicap -2,2) was eighth in 1:59.83.
Hodgkinson, who earned her third Diamond League win of the season, said: “I was fairly happy, but I wanted faster, a win is a win though. It was great to have that race with Laura and she’s running well. I’m trying to take it week by week, but I love championship racing and running the rounds, so I’m looking forward to Eugene. Athing Mu took my world lead, so I want it back and I’m looking forward to facing her at the World Championships.”
There were PBs for both Jake Wightman (handicap -6.4) and Neil Gourley (handicap -6.7) in a superb Men’s Dream Mile to conclude the Diamond League programme in Oslo. Wightman went with the ferocious pace of Jakob Ingebrigtsen and Ollie Hoare as that trio were locked in a great battle. The Briton fell off the pace of the Norwegian as the latter just missed Steve Cram’s European record with a time of 3:46.46.
The Edinburgh athlete improved his PB to 3:50.30 and Scottish record, a time that put him eighth on the UK all-time list, and took third place behind Hoare who ran an Australian record of 3:47.48. Gourley came through strongly for fourth place in a personal best of 3:52.91.
The women’s 5000m unfolded as the rain started to bounce down in Oslo, with Jess Judd (handicap -3.2) finishing 13th in 15:00.17. Eilish McColgan (handicap -4.3) had led the way for the first 2500m, but as the Karoline Bjerkeli Grovdal (NOR) took on the pace at the front, the Briton found herself at the back of the leading pack, and with 1000m to go, she withdrew from the race. Dawit Seyaum (ETH) won in 14:25.84.