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Keely Hodgkinson breezed through the opening 800m round of the European championships with her fastest time in a heat \u2013 before laughing about why she had worn sunglasses for the first time in a race. \u201cIt\u2019s sunny out there,\u201d she joked. \u201cI\u2019m just trying not to get wrinkles and stop the need for Botox too early.\u201d<\/p>\n
But Hodgkinson\u2019s time of 1min 57.28sec, easing down, showed that the 800m Olympic champion<\/a> is in prime condition for her highly anticipated potential showdown with the new Swiss superstar Audrey Werro and the multiple Olympic and world medallist Femke Broeders-Bol on Friday night.<\/p>\n \u201cI felt really good,\u201d said Hodgkinson. \u201cI think that\u2019s the fastest I\u2019ve ever run in a heat. But I could feel the girls pushing on my shoulder. And, to be honest, running at that kind of pace is a bit more in keeping with my training, so it actually felt kind of nice. I had to slow myself down a bit. But I\u2019ve got a day off now before the semi-final and I feel good.\u201d<\/p>\n The 24-year-old also revealed that she has arrived in Birmingham having run a personal best in a session in a camp in Portugal that she and her coach, Trevor Painter, use to gauge her fitness before major championships.<\/p>\n \u201cPortugal went really well,\u201d she said. \u201cI\u2019m really happy and just excited to showcase where I\u2019m at and hopefully have the performance I know I\u2019m capable of. It\u2019s always all about medals. They create legacy. This will hopefully be my fifth back-to-back title.\u201d<\/p>\n Next up is Thursday\u2019s semi-final. But if she makes it through she won\u2019t, however, be wearing the shades in Friday\u2019s final. \u201cNo, it\u2019s going to be nearly 10pm and I want to see everything,\u201d she laughed.<\/p>\n However, Werro showed that she is also in exceptional form as she made her time of 1:57.83 look like a jog in the park, while Broeders-Bol also looked good as she continued her transition from the 400m hurdles with a similarly straightforward 1:59.96.<\/p>\n It was Werro, of course, who beat Hodgkinson in Stockholm<\/a> in June in what was the third fastest time in history. But she is not concerned about facing Britain\u2019s best on home turf.<\/p>\n
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