Keely Hodgkinson shattered the women’s indoor 800m world record in Liévin, France, on Thursday, finishing in a time of 1:54.87. The 23-year-old Briton eclipsed the previous record of 1:55.82, set by Slovenia’s Jolanda Čeplak almost 24 years ago to the day – March 3, 2002 – which coincidentally marked Hodgkinson’s own birthdate.
The performance comes after a challenging period for the Olympic champion, who secured gold at the Paris Games in 2024 but subsequently suffered hamstring injuries that disrupted her training. “After winning the Olympics, it really wasn’t what I thought was going to happen,” Hodgkinson said. “It makes you stop and strip back everything and think, why is this happening? What are the problems?”
Hodgkinson’s coach, Jenny Meadows, revealed the athlete had expressed confidence in breaking the record prior to the race. “She actually said to me the day before: ‘obviously I know I’m going to get it’,” Meadows told BBC Sport. Meadows also suggested Hodgkinson’s time could have been even faster, potentially by as much as a second. The Lievin track has a reputation for producing fast times, having hosted numerous world record attempts over the years.
The race itself saw Hodgkinson closely follow the pacing of Anna Gryc through the first 400m, completing the first lap in 56.01 seconds. She then took the lead and extended her advantage, finishing well ahead of Switzerland’s Audrey Werro, who came in second with a time of 1:58.38, and Ethiopia’s Tsige Duguma, who finished in 1:58.83. Hodgkinson’s split times were 13.52, 13.28, 14.50, and 14.07 for each 100m segment.
Hodgkinson’s achievement places her alongside triple jumper Jonathan Edwards as the only British athletes to currently hold a world record in a championship event. Prior to Thursday’s record-breaking run, Hodgkinson had already demonstrated her form by improving her own British record at the UK Indoor Championships the previous weekend. She had initially targeted the indoor 800m record at her own Keely Klassic event last year, but those plans were thwarted by injury.
Looking ahead, Hodgkinson expressed her ambition to continue pushing the boundaries of her performance. “We can push it even further in the future, as long as I stay healthy and I think Here’s hopefully just the beginning,” she said. She acknowledged the physical and mental toll of her recent setbacks, adding, “But, we got through it, I became a stronger person, and I think this is now the reward of all of that happening.”
