In a World Athletics Championships that has produced some stunning upsets, a few incredible timings, and many memorable moments, the final day had one more astonishing event in store in Tokyo under pouring rain. Kenya were among the favourites to win gold in yet another track event for the women but it was Mary Moraa who many would have predicted. But Lilian Odira, out of nowhere, produced a storming finish to win an astonishing women’s 800 metres world gold on Sunday, smashing her personal best by almost two seconds and erasing the 42-year-old championship record. In the process, Odira broke the longest standing record on the books with her timing of 1:54.62, overcoming Jarmila Kratochvilova’s championship record of 1:54.68 dates back to 1983. It was the second record that has stood since the first edition of the World Championships that was broken in Tokyo, with Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone smashing the one-day younger record in women’s 400m a couple of days earlier.
Odira’s gold also meant that the Kenyan women quite literally ran away with the plaudits in Tokyo, as they won every women’s event in Tokyo from 800m to marathon. Earlier in the tournament, world-record holder Faith Kipyegon won the 1500m, Beatrice Chebet clinched the 5000m to pip her compatriot, and also the 10,000m, while Faith Cherotich the 3000m steeplechase. Peres Jepchirchir won the marathon.
Odira looked out of it with 30 metres to go but surged past two Britons leading the race. Georgia Hunter-Bell squeezed past her compatriot Keely Hodgkinson to take silver in a personal best 1:54.90, with the Olympic champion adding bronze to two previous world silvers in 1:54.91. “This is my first world championships and I am really grateful to be leaving it as the world champion. It has been a long time coming,” Odira, a later bloomer and a mother of two children, told the World Athletics.
“I am grateful to my coach, my family, and my fans for supporting me. The 800m is always very tactical. The first lap today was very fast. I knew I had to push on the second one. It was so quick. I knew this race was going to be the fastest in the championships and I took advantage of it. I was paying attention to what was happening with other runners. I didn’t have any expectations, I was just following the pace of the race. I managed to have the most powerful finish and I got lucky to be going home with a gold medal. This medal means the world to me. It is for my sons, they are four and two. They are my motivation.”
Fast start
Just like the men’s race on Saturday, the field took off at an electrifying pace, as defending champion hit the bell in 55.7 seconds.
Hodgkinson had suffered a series of hamstring issues and returned to action only six weeks ago, but she has been in imperious form since and was the favourite on Sunday. She was then involved in a 150-metre duel with Moraa for the inside line, which she eventually won, to emerge clear on the final bend. It looked set for a British 1-2 but Odira somehow found an extra gear to overhaul them both.
Hunter-Bell, the 2024 Olympic bronze medallist over 1,500 metres, had opted to run 800 as she felt she had more chance of a medal, and the decision was vindicated as four of the top five ran personal bests. “I feel really happy. The race went kind of how I thought it would go,” said Hunter-Bell. “I knew it would get out very hard, and it did, and my plan was try and just hang and hang on. “My coaches said, ‘Do not go on the rails’ and I found myself on the rail with, like, 150 to go. So I had to get out of that, but I felt really good.”
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Hodgkinson looked stunned as she crossed the line, having thought it was in the bag five metres out, but soon recovered to hug her team mate and training partner. “It got away from me once again,” she said. “I went out and gave my best. I will go back and see what I could have done differently. “I wanted gold so I am a bit disappointed. I think if someone told me back in June, ‘You are going to run, get a bronze medal’, I would have taken it. But I came here as a favourite and I wanted to fulfil that. This season, coming back from an injury showed me how strong I am. It doesn’t matter what happened. It’s awesome being here.”
(With Reuters inputs)
