Fresh rivals & forced to settle for silver - but Hodgkinson up for fight

Keely Hodgkinson has been here before - and it eventually culminated in her crowning moment.Just two athletes stood between the Briton and total domination in the early years of her career.But, after taking silver at three consecutive global championships amid captivating battles with American Athing Mu and Kenya’s Mary Moraa, Hodgkinson finally took the top step of a podium at the Paris Olympics.Now, her European reign has been ended by talented Swiss 22-year-old Audrey Werro, and a fresh wave of world-class rivals appear set to define the next chapter of Hodgkinson's story.Friday's gripping final in Birmingham offered a first taste of what fans will hope are many titanic battles with Werro and Dutch star Femke Broeders-Bol, with next season's World Championships in Beijing preceding the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles.The fierce competition does not stop there, with world 800m champion Lilian Odira and Hodgkinson's training partner Georgia Hunter Bell among those who could also prove key players in those global showdowns."There have been so many rivalries over the last couple of years. I have only been in this game for five years, hopefully I've got another 10 in me," said 24-year-old Hodgkinson."There will always be competitors coming along and you don't know when someone is going to have a breakthrough. "I am proud of my consistency to stay competitive and continue to fight and add more medals to my collection. "It's not just my event that has rivalries, every single event does and it's creating a great generation of track and field athletes."It meant a return to winning ways became the priority at the London Diamond League, the meeting she previously circled for a potential record-breaking run.Holding off world-champion hurdler Broeders-Bol, who has taken quickly to the 800m since switching events this season, Hodgkinson took victory in front of 60,000 home fans to rebuild some confidence following what she conceded had been "a tough couple of weeks".Forgoing the Commonwealth Games to prioritise her European title defence, Hodgkinson was further encouraged by her progress on a Portugal training camp before travelling to Birmingham.Speaking on the eve of the championships, she welcomed the strong competition and said achieving gold on British soil would mean as much as her Olympic triumph.While that did not materialise on Friday, the fresh challenge posed by Werro in particular will only intensify her determination to reassert herself at the top of the event."Obviously I would have rather walked away with the gold, but I don't think I have done anything wrong," said Hodgkinson."It was a great race to be part of, a great race for the crowd to watch. Great that all three of us could line up together."I'm really proud of the battle I gave. I look forward to the next match-up."Werro survived an almighty scare on Thursday when she suffered a nasty fall in her semi-final, before later being reinstated in the competition.Recovering impressively both physically and mentally from that shock, she showed great maturity to hold off Hodgkinson in the tense closing stages - while breaking a championship record that had stood since 1982."I knew I could be European champion one day. I hope to be faster and faster next year," Werro said."When I was a child, my dad used to tell me I have to be a lion. I shouldn't be shy and let other athletes go past me, so I decided to do a celebration with that when I crossed the line."In claiming her first senior international title, Werro has proven she is ready to rival the Briton for the sport's biggest prizes for years to come."Audrey Werro is still young and that was a huge amount of pressure, even without the fall and the bruising," former marathon world record holder Paula Radcliffe told BBC TV."She pulled it together and took the race by the scruff of the neck, which I think Keely did intend for her to do - but she thought she could come back at her."Werro just had another gear."Hodgkinson jokingly removed her medal in disgust when asked how she felt after the final.Despite her disappointment, this was her 12th senior international medal and she continues to progress her times, lowering her personal best in all but her injury-devastated 2025 season across the past four years.Hodgkinson has long maintained that she has felt the world record is within her reach. Going forward, she will be aware that may soon be required just to win the titles she craves.