Shockholm became a popular refrain inside the old Olympic stadium in the Swedish capital on Sunday after Keely Hodgkinson suffered a rare defeat.
The slow motion replays after Hodgkinson’s 800m Diamond League defeat clearly showed the disappointment etched on her face as she clocked a personal best only to be pipped to the win by Audrey Werro, shattering her own PB by two seconds.
But by the time the Briton was talking to the gathered media, she instead painted defeat as a positive. “Honestly, I’m not disappointed,” she said. “I’ve mentioned the world record and, to get down to the times that we’re talking about, you can’t do it by yourself. So, I think this will actually be a pivotal moment.”
"One of the quickest 800s we've seen in a long time" 🤯🔥Keely Hodgkinson runs a personal best of 1:54.33 but finishes second as Aubrey Werro wins the women's 800m in 1:53.98. pic.twitter.com/3EogAw7Vfa— BBC Sport (@BBCSport) June 7, 2026
This wasn’t simply an athlete trying to persuade herself of the fact that such a loss could actually be good. The 24-year-old has used setbacks countlessly in her nascent career, and almost always to good effect.
