ATHERTON'S Keely Hodgkinson led from the front to claim 800 metres gold for Great Britain on the final day of the European Indoor Championships in Torun.
Four days after her 19th birthday, Hodgkinson held Polish pair Joanna Jozwik and Angelika Cichocka at bay to become Britain's youngest European Indoors champion since 1970.
It capped a series of remarkably composed performances from Hodgkinson, making her debut in a major senior international Championships, who crossed the line in two minutes 03.88 seconds.
Fellow Britons Ellie Baker and Isabelle Boffey finished in fourth and sixth places respectively in the final.
Hodgkinson told the BBC: "You never understand the shock of when it actually happens - you picture it in your head so many times but when the reality comes through it's very different.
"I didn't want to think about the pressure because I'm only 19 and I'm still learning.
"I wanted to take the same relaxed state as I had through the heats and the semi-final, and it really paid off because I really believed in myself."
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