Keely Hodgkinson and her major 800m rivals all progressed smoothly through their heats on Tuesday to remain on course for a hotly anticipated collision in Friday’s final.
Olympic gold medallist and two-time defending champion Hodgkinson controlled her heat from the start and won in one minute 57.28 seconds, the quickest of the four heats.
Switzerland’s Audrey Werro, who is the hot favourite after running the fastest time in four decades earlier this season, won her heat in 1:57.83, while Femke Broeders-Bol, who has looked at ease stepping up to the 800m from her usual 400m hurdles event, won hers in 1:59.96. Britain’s Jemma Reekie also progressed after finishing fourth in her heat.
Hodgkinson has had a difficult outdoor season by her own high standards, being beaten twice and suffering a couple of minor injury scares, but she brushed off any concerns in the build-up to this championships and looked thoroughly at home as she dominated her heat.
She said: “I have worked so hard and the shape has been there all year. It's just been an unfortunate couple of events that have led to me maybe being a little bit off.
“Championships are a fresh start. That felt very good, very comfortable. The standard has gone up but it's good, it brings out the best in me.
“All it takes is one person to raise the bar and you think more things are possible. Everyone knows that to keep up you have to keep getting better. It's a really exciting time for the women's 800m.”
The last time Hodgkinson raced at the Alexander Stadium – at the British trials in June – did not end the way the 24-year-old wanted, tearfully pulling out of the 400m final with hamstring tightness.
She had laid out her aim to break the 43-year-old world record at the London Diamond League meet a few weeks later, but a freak fall in a training session before the Prefontaine Classic resulted in severe scrapes to both knees and different expectations for London.
Werro’s journey, in contrast, has been both smooth and expedient. Hodgkinson lowered her own British record at her injury-delayed June season-opener in Stockholm, but she was still shocked by 22-year-old Werro, who has now run three of the nine fastest women’s 800m times in history, with her best of 1:53.80 this season the third-fastest of all time.
Asked what it would mean to beat Hodgkinson at her home championships, Werro said: “I think it’s not changed a lot of things. It’s always like all other championships, and it’s true that there are a lot of people here for her, but I think there are also a lot of Swiss people, so it’s a bit of a balance. I am expecting great things.”
The semi-finals take place on Thursday.
This is the first time an outdoor European championships has been held in the UK, and social media was rife with concern about attendances on opening day, where attendance averaged around just over 13,200 in each session. Some have pointed to ticket pricing as to why the 23,000-capacity Alexander Stadium stands looked somewhat sparse.
But the competition’s organisers on Tuesday morning said in a statement: “Birmingham 2026 is delighted with ticket sales for the Championships, which have far surpassed our targets. Friday, Saturday and Sunday evening sessions are approaching sell-out, with several other sessions close to capacity.”
Additional reporting by PA
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