Keely Hodgkinson smashes 800m indoor world record with stunning run in Lievin

Keely Hodgkinson smashed nan women’s 800m indoor grounds by almost a 2nd to widen nan Olympic champion’s blazing commencement to nan 2026 season.

Crossing nan decorativeness statement successful 1:54.87, Hodgkinson looked ultimate en way to triumph astatine nan prestigious World Indoor Tour Gold gathering successful Lievin.

Days aft a stunning world-leading 800m tally of 1:56.33 astatine nan UK Indoor Championships heats, Hodgkinson bowed retired of nan last to alternatively attraction connected taking down Jolanda Ceplak’s people of 1:55.82, which has stood for 24 years and coincidentally occurred connected Hodgkinson’s birthday.

But that decision, to sphere her assemblage for tonight’s audacious attempt, proved a smart one, pinch Thursday’s effort ensuring a revision of nan grounds books and a precious summation to what is an already sparkling resume.

“Thank god,” remarked an out-of-breath Hodgkinson moments aft gathering herself, having collapsed aft crossing nan decorativeness line. “That was fun. I’ve been looking guardant to this for a fewer weeks. Merci.”

Hodgkinson came done 400m successful 56.01 seconds, and deed nan doorbell thigh astatine 1:25.06 good up of nan required pace, pinch her last 200m clocked astatine 29.81 seconds.

After Olympic golden and metallic medals, arsenic good arsenic 2 silvers and a bronze astatine World Championships, Hodgkinson now has nan indoor world record, completing an awesome consequence to what was a disappointing 2025 by her exceptionally precocious standards.

After struggling pinch wounded successful nan build-up to past summer, Hodgkinson was forced to settee for bronze astatine nan Tokyo World Championships, down training mate Georgia Hunter Bell, who clinched silver.

But without an Olympic Games aliases World Championships this year, nan 23-year-old has targeted clip goals pinch a sizzling tally successful Lievin, nan first connection tally of her year.

After sensibly negotiating months of training pinch her “healthiest wintertime for years”, Hodgkinson insists she has “nothing holding maine back” up of nan World Indoor Championships successful Poland adjacent month.

“I've been very vocal astir wanting to break it,” Hodgkinson said aft her tune-up connected Saturday successful Birmingham. “I consciousness for illustration it's my grounds to take.”

In a packed field, including Ethiopia’s Olympic metallic medallist Tsige Duguma, Switzerland’s European U23 champion Audrey Werro and world indoor metallic medallist Nigist Getachew, besides of Ethiopia, Hodgkinson had nan title required to push her to caller limits.

And, pursuing Poland’s 4x400m world Anna Gryc arsenic nan pacemaker, she backed up her tally past play by expertly clicking disconnected nan laps earlier storming to triumph successful a caller world record, 0.95 seconds up of nan erstwhile mark.

Werro vanished 2nd successful 3.51 seconds backmost successful 1:58.38, pinch Duguma 3rd successful 1:58.83 and Getachew 4th pinch a individual champion of 1:59.54.

Her adjacent privilege will beryllium a golden badge astatine nan World Indoor Championships adjacent month, while a changeable astatine nan women’s 800m outdoor world record, opinionated astatine a daunting 1:53.28, is judge to follow.

Set by Czechoslovakia's Jarmila Kratochvílová successful 1983, it remains nan longest-standing, individual outdoor world grounds successful athletics history, pinch Hodgkinson’s individual champion group astatine 1:54.61.