Running News Daily

British middle-distance running has a proud Olympic legacy, but only three women from Great Britain have ever climbed to the top of the Olympic podium in the women’s 800 metres: Ann Packer, Kelly Holmes and Keely Hodgkinson. Each achieved the milestone in a different era, creating a remarkable connection between generations of British athletics.

Packer made history at the Tokyo 1964 Olympic Games, becoming the first British woman to win Olympic gold in the 800m. Her triumph on October 20, 1964, remains one of the defining moments in the history of British women’s middle-distance running.

The British athlete delivered a memorable performance in Tokyo, winning in a world-record time of 2:01.01. Her victory was particularly significant because the women’s 800m had a complicated Olympic history. The event was first contested at the 1928 Amsterdam Games but was subsequently removed from the programme before returning at Rome 1960. Packer’s achievement four years later helped establish her place among the pioneers of British Olympic athletics.

Nearly four decades after Packer’s breakthrough, Kelly Holmes carried the tradition forward at the Athens 2004 Olympics. Holmes produced an outstanding performance to win the women’s 800m in 1:56.38, adding Olympic gold to her growing collection of international honours. Her victory came during a remarkable championship in which she also won the 1500m, completing a historic middle-distance double.

Holmes became one of Britain’s most celebrated track athletes, demonstrating the combination of endurance, tactical intelligence and finishing speed required to succeed at the highest level. Her double-gold achievement in Athens placed her among the defining figures of British Olympic sport.

At Paris 2024, Keely Hodgkinson became the third British woman to win Olympic 800m gold. The reigning middle-distance star delivered a composed and powerful race, crossing the finish line in 1:56.72 to secure the title and fulfil a long-held Olympic ambition.

Hodgkinson’s victory continued a legacy that had begun 60 years earlier with Packer in Tokyo. While the three champions competed in different eras and faced different generations of rivals, they share the distinction of having won the most prestigious prize in Olympic middle-distance running for Great Britain.

From Packer’s world-record breakthrough in 1964, through Holmes’s golden double in 2004, to Hodgkinson’s triumph in 2024, the story of British women’s Olympic 800m champions is one of extraordinary performances and lasting inspiration.

Three athletes. Three Olympic generations. One historic distinction: Olympic 800m gold for Great Britain.

With every major milestone comes that extra surge of excitement and anticipation for the rescheduled Olympic Games, for which there are now just 100 days to go.

On 23 July the spotlight will be on Tokyo's Olympic Stadium as it hosts the opening ceremony and one week later the world’s best track and field athletes will descend on the rebuilt venue of the 1964 Games as athletics action gets under way.

More than half a century ago, when Tokyo last hosted the Olympics, the stadium was the place where New Zealand’s Peter Snell tore up the track to achieve his 800m and 1500m double, Tamara Press of the Soviet Union took two titles in the shot put and discus, Britain’s Ann Packer sprang a surprise to win 800m gold in a world record and Bob Hayes equalled the world record to win the 100m.

Further history will be made at that site this summer and it will all start with the opening ceremony in 100 days’ time.

“We are so looking forward to seeing athletes from all over the world marching into the new stadium at the opening ceremony ... when the eyes of the world will be on this iconic symbol of the Tokyo 2020 Games,” said Tokyo 2020 CEO Toshiro Muto on completion of the stadium’s construction, which took 36 months at a cost of ¥157 billion ($US 1.4 billion).

The National Stadium, or ‘Kokuritsu kyōgijō’, which will be known as the Olympic Stadium during the Tokyo Games, was officially completed in November 2019. Demolition of the 1964 Olympics venue had begun in 2015 to make way for the 68,000-seater created with sustainability in mind.

Designed by Japanese architect Kengo Kuma, the look of the stadium – a ‘living tree’ – is reminiscent of traditional Japanese temple design with wooden facades and greenery to blend with the nearby Meiji Jingu Gaien area. The multi-layered eaves are made of wood gathered from Japan's 47 prefectures, while more than 47,000 trees were planted within the stadium’s precinct.

Inside, 185 airflow-creating fans and mist-cooling systems will create cooler competition conditions and the three tiers of seating, which will not feature overseas spectators for the Games, is in earthy and green tones to mimic sunlight filtering through the trees, or in this case the roof, and on to the forest floor – the seating and Mondo track.

While there are just 100 days to go until the Games, athletics action is heading to the Olympic Stadium even sooner as it will host the second meeting in the 2021 World Athletics Continental Tour Gold series.

‘READY STEADY TOKYO – Athletics’ will take place on 9 May and for many of the athletes expected to compete, this meeting will provide their first look at the state-of-the-art facility.

Continental Tour Gold disciplines to be contested include the men’s 100m, 200m, 400m, 3000m steeplechase, 110m hurdles, 400m hurdles, high jump, pole vault, long jump and triple jump, while the women’s events are the 1500m, 3000m steeplechase, 100m hurdles, long jump and triple jump.

The meeting is part of the ‘READY STEADY TOKYO’ series of test events organized by Tokyo 2020 in the lead-up to the Games.