Hodgkinson Advances to 800m Semis Despite Lost Luggage

Keely Hodgkinson advanced to the semifinals of the women's 800 meters at the World Indoor Athletics Championships in Torun, Poland, on Friday, overcoming a pre-competition setback involving lost luggage that forced her to borrow equipment and train without her usual gear.

The 24-year-old British Olympic champion clocked 2:00.32 to win her heat comfortably, finishing well ahead of Switzerland's Valentina Rosamilia, who took second in 2:01.15. Fellow Briton Isabelle Boffey also qualified as a fastest loser. Despite the smooth performance, Hodgkinson revealed that airline KLM misplaced her kit for 48 hours upon arrival, leaving her without spikes, clothing or supplements until the evening before her race. "It came last night, thank God," she said. "I was starting to get annoyed. A very nice Polish girl let me borrow her spikes, and they gave me a blister. I just didn't have any kit or my supplements. But it's all good now."

Hodgkinson enters the event as the clear favorite after shattering the world indoor 800m record last month in Lievin, France, with a time of 1:54.87, nearly a second faster than the previous mark set by Jolanda Ceplak in 2002. She passed the 400-meter mark in...