Yahoo Finance Three British runners through to women’s 800m semi-final
Team GB received a boost on the track today as three runners qualified for the semi-final of the women’s 800m following strong performances in the heats.
Jemma Reekie won the sixth heat, confidently seeing off a late challenge from Ajee Wilson, Chunyu Wang and Sara Kuivisto. Reekie’s finishing time of 1:59.97 was just 0.14 seconds slower than the fastest runner in all six heats, Natoya Goule from Jamaica.
‘I’m through and that’s the main thing,’ Reekie said, according to The Guardian. ‘It was a little bit messy and I was a little bit all over the place but that’s job done.’
The 23-year-old also reportedly praised the volunteers in the stadium: ‘It’s quite good because the volunteers are making it feel special, they are clapping us coming out of the call room and they’re just so happy to have us here, it feels like there are people here watching,’ she added.
Keely Hodgkinson came second in her heat, crossing the finish line in 2:01.59. Approaching the home straight she looked as if she might win, but American Raevyn Rogers surged to a marginal victory. Kenya’s Mary Moraa came in third.
Finally, Alex Bell came fourth in her race. In an exceptionally tight finish she battled Moroccan athlete Rababe Arafi for third place, eventually being beaten by just 0.003 seconds. However, that was still enough to earn a spot in the semi-final as one of the ‘fastest losers’.
The semi-final is due to take place on Saturday, split over three races. The top two runners in each of these races, plus the next two fastest overall, will all go through to the final on Tuesday, August 3.
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