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Keely Hodgkinson left frustrated after another silver medal

Keely Hodgkinson left frustrated after another silver medal

Keely Hodgkinson will be the first to admit that not all silvers are equal.

It's just over a year since she won that medal at the Olympics in Tokyo, her face etched with wide-eyed shock and disbelief as she also broke Kelly Holmes' British 800m record.

And it's 12 days since she won silver at the World Championships in Oregon, just eight hundredths of a second off top spot.

Birmingham's Commonwealth Games was due to be the place where she finally perfected the alchemy needed for a golden upgrade, with friends and family watching on at the Alexander Stadium.

But the 20-year-old again had to settle for silver, beaten in a sprint finish by Kenya's Mary Moraa, who also lowered her colours at Stockholm's Diamond League earlier this season.

Barely out her teens, the super-talented Hodgkinson, in only her second senior season, is far too young to be dubbed a bridesmaid but it was clear this second stung.

“Frustrated is the word," she said. "I’m not quite sure what happened, it went so quick.

“There are positives but they’re still not golds, so I’m still fuming until I’m stood on top of that podium.

“I’d give myself an eight-and-a-half out of 10 [for the season] because I really wanted that. The worlds was definitely going to be the hardest challenge but I thought I was going to win here but I guess it wasn’t meant to be."

Moraa's tactics were certainly designed to confuse, she hit the front, dropped to the back, and then found a second wind to chase down a fading Hodgkinson on the home straight, while Scotland's Laura Muir flung herself across the line to claim bronze.

This summer, Team England, supported by funding raised by National Lottery players, comprises of over 400 athletes, all vying for medal success.

Hodgkinson and coach Trevor Painter will watch the tape of this puzzling race with interest, and she's got just ten days before she's back on the track at the European Sports Championships in Munich.

"Maybe I could have been a bit more patient, but I gave it my all," added Hodgkinson.

"I know she went off quite hard, there was a bit of argy-bargy in the corner and I wanted to keep my good position. I didn’t know what Mary was doing, I was focusing on myself.

“We have quite similar strengths when it comes to the last 200m, so my plan is to be ahead of her and hopefully she won’t catch me, but she obviously had more.

"We keep learning and I have one more chance to try and finish with a gold this season."

Elsewhere, Wigan's Emily Borthwick finished 11th in the women's high jump final after clearing a best height of 1.78m.

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