Keely Hodgkinson - 'I refused to walk away without gold'

The Olympic silver medallist – trained by Wigan duo Trevor Painter and his wife, Jenny Meadows – won the European 800m title on Saturday night after breezing to victory ahead of Renelle Lamote and Anna Wielgosz in Munich.

Hodgkinson, 20, followed up her breakthrough Tokyo medal with silvers at this summer’s World Championships and Commonwealth Games after being beaten by Athing Mu in Eugene and then stunned by Mary Moraa in Birmingham.

But she finally climbed to the top of the podium to lay those demons to rest as a polished and assured performance completed a comfortable victory by almost half a second.

The Wigan Borough star, who finished ahead of team-mates Jemma Reekie and Alex Bell in fifth and sixth, said: “The last thing my coach said to me was: ‘you always know what to do.’

“You can plan it out but it changes so much in the 800m, you’ve got to be able to make decisions on the spot.

“I think that comes from when I was younger.

“I refused to walk away today without gold so I’m happy.

“I was disappointed with the Commonwealth Games mentally, but I’ve got two silvers and a gold.

“That was nice – and special as well my as parents are here, so I’m just happy to be at the top of the podium.

“The last two years I’ve been performing and winning medals, but there’s still a long way to go.”

Hodgkinson is one of the undisputed stars of British athletics and is surely destined for a dizzying future on the sport’s big stage.

She catapulted herself into the spotlight with that breathtaking Olympic silver last summer just five months after being crowned European indoor champion under a Polish roof in Torun.

Hodgkinson came into this summer still chasing her maiden outdoor crown, however, and was beaten by American ace Mu by just 0.08s in Oregon last month.

She then went into the Commonwealth Games as a red-hot favourite for gold but was toppled by Kenyan Moraa, who won World Championship bronze, in front of a shocked Alexander Stadium.

That cranked up the pressure for Saturday night’s European showdown under the lights but Hodgkinson held her nerve to deliver an ice-cool performance and finally grab that long-awaited major title.

She added: “Today I wanted to do things a little bit differently.

“I thought it would have been a bit obvious if I went right to the front like I have been for years.

“I wanted to sit back a little bit, see what people were going to do and make sure I didn’t get myself boxed in.

“Then last 120m go for it, and hopefully it was enough.”

The multi-sport European Championships Munich 2022, featuring Athletics, Beach Volleyball, Canoe Sprint, Cycling, Gymnastics, Table Tennis, Triathlon, Rowing, Sport Climbing, takes place 11th-21st August on the 50th anniversary of the Olympics Games in the German city. Watch daily live coverage across BBC One, Two, Red Button, BBC iPlayer, BBC Sport website