Jemma Reekie's tough season goes on as she falls just short in 800m at Worlds

A shock exit at the semi-final stage of the women’s 800 metres in Paris last summer was met with plenty of introspection and a change of approach as she looked to return to the top table of women’s middle-distance running.

But after a tough season, she was unable to come through her heat in Japan, crossing the line fifth in her heat in 1:59.35 and missing out on the semi-finals by three hundredths of a second.

For Reekie, it was a continuation of a season where she has been chasing after her form.

She said: “It's not what I want to be yet. It's a common theme this season, but I’ve just got to trust the process. I've been training a lot better than that, and I've definitely got stronger in that last 100, but it's just bringing that into racing.

“I’ve definitely tried to change things up. I've been learning a lot in the past year. Obviously not where I want to be, but I’ll keep building forward. I definitely wanted to come out here and get back into those finals, and it's disappointing to not do that, but I've got to keep moving forward.”

Hodgkinson makes light work of heats

There was better news for British star Keely Hodgkinson, who is ready to spearhead a late British charge up the medal table after breezing into the semi-finals.

The British squad have had a slow week in Tokyo, with just one silver medal so far coming courtesy of Scotland’s Jake Wightman in the men’s 1500m.

Injury knocked out three of the best British bets in pole vaulter Molly Caudery, sprinter Matt Hudson-Smith and 1500m defending champion Josh Kerr. It leaves them languishing joint-21st in the medal table – below the likes of Bahrain, Tanzania and Cuba.

However, this weekend is stacked with medal prospects, including four relay races, 800m men’s hopeful Max Burgin and high jumper Morgan Lake. Hodgkinson says she has been bored while waiting to start but can’t wait to get stuck in.

“I have been losing my mind,” she said. “I've been so bored just waiting for it to come around. I was really excited to get out there tonight and it's our turn to have some fun and get on the stage.

“Honestly, we know I don't like the rounds. They feel awful but it's nice to be here and experience that and safely make it through. It wasn't pretty or anything, it wasn't dominant, it was just nice and safely through.”

British sprinters have eyes on medals

Meanwhile, three British sprinters have an outside shot of a medal in the 200m finals on Friday as Amy Hunt and Dina Asher-Smith both progressed to the women’s final, while Zharnel Hughes followed suit in the men’s.

Hunt stopped the clock in 22.08, finishing second behind Shericka Jackson in the opening semi, while Asher-Smith came home in 22.21 to seal a place in her latest global showpiece. “I knew it was in there and I knew it would take somewhere around my PB to make it,” said Hunt.

The night closed with the most anticipated race of the entire championships as 400m hurdles specialist Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone became the second fastest woman in history over the flat.

Only Marita Koch’s world record, that dates back to 1985, is quicker than McLaughlin-Levrone’s 47.80s, while silver medallist Marileidy Paulino pushed her all the way to take silver in 47.98s.

Before this race, no athlete had broken the 48-second barrier in 40 years but McLaughlin-Levrone had hinted that she was capable of doing so in the semi-finals. The pouring rain and fierce winds might be the only reason that Koch’s record endured, but this will go down as the fastest 400m race in history.

Salwa Eid Naser took bronze in 48.19s, with three of the nine fastest times in history coming in one race, while every single athlete broke the 50-second barrier. McLaughlin-Levrone, who is the world record holder over 400m hurdles as well as the back-to-back Olympic champion, will now have a decision to make over whether to stick to the flat in order to take down one of the oldest records in the book.

Surprise javelin winner

In the men’s 400m, Collen Kebinatshipi of Botswana set a second national record in as many races to take gold in 43.53s ahead of Trinidad’s Jereem Richards and compatriot Bayapo Ndori.

Elsewhere, the men’s javelin was billed a battle between India’s Neeraj Chopra and Pakistan’s Arshad Nadeem but was eventually won by Keshorn Walcott. The Trinidad thrower launched a season’s best 88.16m in wet conditions to beat Grenada’s Anderson Peters and USA’s Curtis Thompson. Chopra finished eighth and Nadeem 10th.

Cuba’s Leyanis Perez won the women’s triple jump with 14.94m from Dominica’s Thea LaFond and Venezuela’s Yulimar Rojas.

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