The British goldrush

KELLY Holmes last night confirmed her status as the new British queen of the track with a run that took her into the history books and reaped a second gold to add to the one she attained in the 800m last week. In so doing, she inspired the British track team to a night of unprecedented glory in the Olympic Stadium, with the men’s 4x100m team, mirroring her achievement shortly afterwards, pipping the previously all-conquering USA sprint team to gold.

On an exciting final night of track and field in Athens, the 34-year-old former soldier became only the second athlete in the modern era, and the first Briton since Albert Hill in 1920, to double up and win both the 800m and the 1500m at the Olympics. Others, including her childhood idol Sebastian Coe, who had presented her with her 800m medal, had all tried and failed but with a run that was as perfect as it was peerless, she completely outmanoeuvred the opposition and crossed the line in a personal best time of 3:57.90 and with clear daylight between and her nearest challenger, Tatyana Tomashova of Russia.

As she did so, only sheer pleasure registered on her face, as opposed to the wide-eyed amazement which accompanied her 800m victory. Collapsing to the track in sheer exhaustion following a packed schedule of six races in nine days, she said her only fear was that she would wake up this morning, discover it had all been a dream and "have to race the whole damn thing again".

"It’s so surreal, I’m just so exhausted. A lot of things have happened that made me believe that fate was with me. But it was difficult to focus mentally and physically after everything I have achieved this week. The hardest thing was pretending I hadn’t won it. I looked at the medal this morning and I had tears in my eyes. I had one but I wanted another one."

Cheered by a huge British support inside the Olympic Stadium, she ran another tactically-perfect race, biding her time towards the rear of the pack as she has in all the previous rounds before edging her way round the group on the final lap before pouncing coming into the home straight. She had been bundled slightly at the bell, but her strength and focus saw her through and when she kicked on the final bend, no-one was capable of matching her. She had a quick check behind her in the final 100m but said when she saw no sign of the fast-finishing Hasna Benhassi, she knew she would complete the coveted double.

"I just stayed focused and ran my own race. I knew I had to relax through the first 800m and then use my strength and hang on. I don’t know what got me through it but I think it was guts and that tunnel vision. This has been a psychological battle because I knew this was my only chance ever."

On entering the annals of British athletics history, she said she was struggling to come to terms with the concept. "I just can’t believe it’s happened to me and I’m too tired to even think at the moment. But to be mentioned in the same breath as Coe is unbelievable. He was my idol for absolutely years and he was my inspiration."

Now that mantle will pass to Holmes. The embodiment of everything a coach could ever want in an athlete and everything a youngster could ever want in a hero, her Athens double is due reward for a lifetime of refusing to give up.

An athlete who has been dogged by a endless catalogue of injuries throughout a determined but interrupted career, it was the first time in seven years she has been able to train throughout the winter and come into a major championships firing on all cylinders, which is why she had harboured doubts about racing both the 800m and the 1500m. "I kept expecting something to go wrong, something always goes wrong but when it didn’t I started to grow in confidence and I really just tried to believe in myself. I knew this was my last chance of achieving my dreams and the 1500m was the one I was always going to take part in, so winning is brilliant, beyond my wildest dreams.

"I’m so in shock, I really can’t explain how I feel except that I’m so bleeding knackered. I had nothing left at the end, I’m just glad that neither did the others."

It was little wonder she was drained and required treatment for stomach cramps on leaving the track. Despite the gruelling build up and emotional drain of winning the 800m, allied to the heightened expectations of a nation gripped by Kelly-fever, she still managed to break her own national record.

"If you’d told me I would have to run that fast to win or get a medal, I just wouldn’t have turned up. The 1500m is such a psychological battle for me because it means so much to me and any athlete will tell you that’s the biggest battle."

A smile stretched across a disbelieving face as she stepped on to the podium. When she had received her 800m gold, she did it bedecked in one Union flag, but on this evidence they appear to be multiplying as fast as her gold medals.

But in battle there are few braver, tougher or more resolute than Holmes. She’s always been a battler, last night, once again, she proved she is also a winner.