Keely Hodgkinson suffers rare setback - but receives massive Olympic boost
Keely Hodgkinson used the UK Athletics Championships over the weekend to try to gatecrash the 4x400m relay team rather than secure another title at 800m.
The 22-year-old from Atherton - who is coached by Wigan duo Trevor Painter and his wife, Jenny Meadows - had already secured her 800m spot for the Paris Olympics, which get underway later this month.
She appeared at Manchester to try to improve on her speed – and possibly sneak her way into the relay team - although it didn't quite go according to plan.
After qualifying sixth fastest from the heats, Hodgkinson finished seventh in the final, in a time more than a second slower than she ran earlier this year.
However, there was an unexpected boost to her hopes of improving on the 800m silver medal she won three years ago at the delayed Tokyo Games.
Hodgkinson's great rival - and reigning Olympic champion - Athing Mu failed to qualify for Paris after falling during the US trials.
The 22-year-old was clipped by another runner on the backstretch of the first lap, causing her to hit the deck.
Although she quickly regained her footing, she was unable to rejoin the pack, and finished last in a clearly distressed state.
US Track and Field officials reviewed footage of the race, but denied an appeal from Mu's camp, with accidental contact deemed an occupational hazard.
“I’ve coached it, I’ve preached it, I’ve watched it,” said her coach, Bobby Kersee. “And here’s another indication that regardless of how good we are, we can leave some better athletes home than other countries have. It’s part of our American way.”
Not that the Hodgkinson camp has been celebrating the news.
"I am really gutted actually, and I know people might be a little surprised by that,” said Hodgkinson in Manchester. "I just feel like I want to win it fair and square, and it’ll still be so hard without her there.
"It’s just not nice to see – even from a human response – a person to go down like that and be so upset. But I’m sure she’ll be fine and she’ll bounce back...all I can do now is focus on myself.”
The British team for Paris will be named later this week, with Hodgkinson among the highest hopes for gold.