Keely Hodgkinson fights through illness to strike European

Briton holds off Gajanova to retain title Women’s 4x100m team win gold for Britain

Some races are about guts more than glory. About pulling it out when the throat is scratchy and the sniffles are worsening by the hour. This was one of those nights for Keely Hodgkinson. But after loading up on First Defence, paracetamol and aspirin, she found a way to rope-a-dope her way to another 800m European championship title.

But it was a close run thing. At one point Slovakia’s Gabriela Gajanova briefly threatened an almighty upset, before the Briton found a little extra to win in 1min 58.65sec – and by just 0.14. No wonder she puffed her cheeks out at the end.