She didn’t put a foot wrong in the final, doing everything within her power to claim the gold medal in front of 80,000 spectators at the Stade de France.
“You just have to be consistent and hope that one day your time’s going to come. And today was that day,” she said. “And what better way to do it than at the Olympics? I’ve even lost my voice. Just talking and just excitement, everything, it has been incredible and something I’ll remember the rest of my life.”
Her race will certainly be studied for decades to come by runners looking to repeat her success at the Olympic Games.
The 22-year-old from Manchester ran a confident first turn, breaking for the inside of the track in a controlled manner that placed her near the front of the race with 600m remaining.
She casually manoeuvred around the outside of Duguma to take control of the race with 500m to go, gradually building her stride towards the climax of the race.
Hodgkinson held off advances from Moraa, Duguma and South Africa’s Prudence Sekgodiso on the back straight to retain the lead heading into the home stretch, where she ran away from the rest of the field to stamp her authority on the women’s 800m.
“I feel like you have to believe right from the start, but you never know how it’s going to go,” said Hodgkinson. “It was a little bit slower than I thought it was going to be. But I just had to trust myself.
“Hopefully it will sink in tomorrow that I am the Olympic champion, but I can’t wait to stand on that podium and listen to my national anthem for once and just really soak in the moment.”
She was followed by Duguma, who ran a controlled race to claim the silver medal with a time of 1:57.15.
Duguma got off to a quick start, leading the race after the first turn. However, she decided to drop into the pack behind Hodgkinson to conserve energy after the first 300m. This proved to be a sound decision, as Duguma still had energy remaining for a final kick on home straight.
While much of the field faded after their early effort to keep in touch with the eventual gold medallist, Duguma surged, passing Moraa to claim the silver medal at the finish line.
“I am very happy,” said Duguma. “I didn’t want to put too much pressure on myself, I just wanted to take it as it goes.”
Her time of 1:57.15 was a personal best, which Duguma welcomed after a solid effort at the Stade de France.
“I didn’t know I broke my PB again,” said Duguma. “I’m really happy that. I will keep working on the 800m. I just moved to that distance from 400m.”
Another former 400m runner crossed the finish line in third to claim the bronze medal at Paris 2024. Moraa added the medal to her collection of major championship medals, which includes a gold medal from the 2023 World Athletics Championships.
She sought to challenge Hodgkinson before the final sprint, but paid dearly for her effort in the final metres of the race. She faded to a third-place finish, crossing the line in 1:57.42.
Still, she accepted her bronze medal result with gratitude and thankfulness.
“I am happy for everything and all my teammates and my competitors,” said Moraa. “I am grateful to be a bronze medallist at the Olympics because in 2021 I was entered into the same race, but now I got a bronze. I am happy with the performance.
“This is for my family. They have been supporting and encouraging me a lot and are with me all the time when I needed something. My mum, father or parents are not here anymore, so this medal I dedicate to my siblings.”
It was a beautiful end to a night of electrifying racing at the Stade de France.
