World 800m champion Mary Moraa had to settle for bronze in her speciality after finishing third in 1:57.42, trailing Keely Hodgkinson of Britain (1:56.72) and Ethiopia’s Tsige Duguma (1:57.15).
Hodgkinson, Olympic 800m silver medallist at the Tokyo Games and at the two subsequent World Athletics Championships, finally earned the gold with a perfectly controlled race that saw her finish comfortably clear in 1:56.72 ahead of Ethiopia’s Tsige Duguma.
Duguma took silver in a personal best of 1:57.15 ahead of the Kenyan who had beaten Hodgkinson to the 2022 Commonwealth title and last year’s world title in Budapest, Moraa, who got bronze in 1:57.42.
The Tokyo Olympic champion, Hodgkinson’s contemporary Athing Mu who claimed world bronze last year, was unable to defend her title after falling in the US trials, but Hodgkinson arrived in Paris knowing that her British record of 1:54.61 at the London Diamond League meeting was faster than her US rival’s best.
Meanwhile, World 10,000m record holder Beatrice Chebet won Kenya’s first gold medal at the Paris Olympics in the women’s 5,000m after blazing to victory in 14:28.56 on Monday night at the Stade de France.
World 1,500m and Mile record holder Faith Kipyegon had placed second in 14:29.60 but was disqualified after she was deemed to shove Ethiopia’s Gudaf Tsegay.
The disqualification means Netherlands Sifan Hassan who had placed third (14:30.61) will now get the silver with fourth-placed Nadia Battocletti of Italy (14:31.64) rounding off the podium. The other Kenyan in the race Margaret Chelimo placed fifth (14:31.64).
Making her Olympic debut, Chebet shattered the women’s 10,000m in May at the Prefontaine Classic after clocking 28:54.14 to win the race. Her time eclipsed that of Ethiopia’s Letesenbet Gidey (29:01.03) set in 2021. Chebet became the first woman to run a sub-29-minute race.
The 24-year-old is a silver medallist in the 5,000m from the 2022 World Championships in Eugene, where she clocked 14:46.75, trailing Gudaf Tsegay (14:46.29).
She won bronze during last year’s World Championships in Budapest, in 14:54.33 trailing Kipyegon (14:53.88) and Hassan (14:54.11). Chebet won her heat in 15:00.73 leading Ethiopia’s Medina Eisa (15:00.82) and Australia’s Rose Davies (15:00.86).