Hodgkinson kept it simple on the way to first major gold

Keely Hodgkinson believes keeping things simple and trusting her instinct fired her to a long-awaited major championship gold. The Olympic silver medallist won the European 800m title on Saturday night after breezing to victory ahead of Renelle Lamote and Anna Wielgosz in Munich. Ad Hodgkinson, 20, followed up her breakthrough Tokyo medal with silvers at this summer's World Championships and Commonwealth Games after being beaten by Athing Mu in Eugene and then stunned by Mary Moraa in Birmingham.

AthleticsHudson-Smith helps secure scintillating European gold in Munich8 MINUTES AGO But she finally climbed to the top of the podium to lay those demons to rest as a polished and assured performance completed a comfortable victory by almost half a second. The Manchester star, who finished ahead of teammates Jemma Reekie and Alex Bell in fifth and sixth, said: «The last thing my coach said to me was: 'you always know what to do.' »You can plan it out but it changes so much in the 800m, you've got to be able to make decisions on the spot. «I think that comes from when I was younger.

»I refused to walk away today without gold so I'm happy. «I was disappointed with the Commonwealth Games mentally, but I've got two silvers and a gold. »That was nice — and special as well my as parents are here, so I'm just happy to be at the top of the podium.