On day two of the 2026 World Indoor Championships, Dina Asher-Smith (Blackheath & Bromley, Michael J Ford) and Amy Hunt (Marco Airale) progressed to the next round in the 60m, whilst Keely Hodgkinson (Leigh, Trevor Painter) confidently qualified for the 800m final.
Asher-Smith opened the session for the Novuna GB & NI team, running a smooth 7.07 to win the heat and progress to the semi finals later this evening. In the final heat of the morning, Amy Hunt found her speed at 30m and progressed through the ranks to qualify in second with a time of 7.15, behind home favourite Ewa Swoboda.
This is the first World Indoor Championships Asher-Smith has competed at since 2016 and the British record holder said:
“I am really happy. I am through and it was smooth. I didn’t expend too much energy which is also what you want from the heat.
“I’m very happy to have run that time, although times aren’t the most important thing this early in the competition. In a championship times are never the most important thing. It’s about executing your race as well, crossing the line first, so very happy to have done that.”
In the women’s 800m semi-final, Hodgkinson confidently stepped it up a gear and led from the start to finish, pulling round the USA athlete Addison Wiley to a new personal best as she clocked 1.58.14 to qualify for tomorrow’s final.
“It was fine. I did what the coach said, picked it up a little bit, and paced the first 100 at around 1.58 pace. I am happy with how we ran it, it’s just these back-to-back mornings. Now back to bed!”
In the other semi final, GB teammate Issy Boffey (Enfield & Haringey, Luke Gunn) calmly slotted near the back of the pack for the opening laps. With two laps to go, she pushed up the field to third, staying on up with the lead two. As the bell went, she found herself boxed in and couldn’t quite find the pace crossing the line in fourth, 2:01.12.
“That was a race I could have made the final in. From what it looked like to us, that was a heat I was capable of making the top two in, but I didn’t; ultimately, my body is tired. I have had an incredible season indoors so far, but again, I am running these times I have never run before. I can definitely feel it. Which is a shame, but a learning curve. All I can do from it now is just learn from it and move on.”
It was a cagy affair in the men’s 800m semi-final, Ben Pattison (Basingstoke & Mid Hants, Dave Ragan) led the pack with certainty from the start, with two laps to go Ireland’s English turned up the pace and pushed through to the front. Pattison found himself boxed in and battling in the last 50m, forced to go wide and cross the line from lane four, in a time of 1:46.85.
“Going into the race I was feeling really good. I feel if I had some open space in the last 100m I would have got through. I had lots of running left in my legs, but it’s all good saying that I just didn’t have the space and that was my mistake. I executed my plan well, got to the front and controlled the race.
“I tried to hold off the Irish athlete for as long as possible, unfortunately, I lost that battle. Missing out on a medal is tough, but I’m feeling positive looking ahead to outdoors.”
