DEFENDING champion Keely Hodgkinson cruised through the fastest-ever women’s 800m semi-final in European Athletics Championships history to secure her spot in tonight's final.
The two-time world and Tokyo Olympic silver medal winner clocked 1:58.07 to stake her spot as the fastest qualifier on day five of competition in Rome.
Fellow Britons Erin Wallace (1:59.89), who came sixth in Hodgkinson’s heat, and Alexandra Bell (2:00.57) narrowly missed out on the final.
Hodgkinson said: “This is way too early for me and less than 24 hours since the last race.
“I felt good - I think today I wanted to be a bit more where I was comfortable with on the pace.
“A couple of the girls were saying thank you afterwards because they got PBs.”
The tournament can be watched on BBC iPlayer - with Hodgkinson running in tonight's 800m final.
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