Hodgkinson is off and running in her bid for 800m glory in Tokyo

Keely Hodgkinson was relieved to purge the boredom from her system after qualifying comfortably for the world 800m semifinals as the winner of her heat in Tokyo.

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The 23-year-old Olympic champion arrived at these championships with a world-leading time, despite only racing twice since returning to the track following a yearlong absence after her Paris triumph last summer.

Georgia Hunter Bell, Hodgkin-son’s training partner who collected 1500m bronze in France, also won her heat on the sixth night of competition in Japan, where she has elected to focus on the shorter distance.

“I've been losing my mind,” said Hodgkinson, who crossed the finish line in 1:59.79.

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

“It’s a heat, it wasn’t anything special, like, super dominant or anything. It was just get the job done. I don’t like the heats.

“It can feel worse running 1:59 than it does when I’m running 1:55, so I’m just happy I’m through.