Keely Hodgkinson won’t rule out making attempt at new British record in Lausanne

Keely Hodgkinson has left open the possibility of breaking her own British 800 metres record at Saturday’s Diamond League meet in Lausanne.

The Olympic champion marked her return from a 376-day absence on Saturday in Silesia in stunning style, clocking a world-leading one minute and 54.74 seconds, the ninth-fastest women’s 800 metres performance in history.

It was also the second quickest Hodgkinson had ever run her signature event, behind her own national record of 1:54.61 set at the London Diamond League last year.

“I guess I was pretty close the other day, so I wouldn’t rule it out, no,” said the 23-year-old.

“I think it just depends, like, when you’re running those kinds of times you’ve really got to be on the pace. Point four out can cost you point four later on. So getting the first lap right is really important and coming into that second lap is really important.

“I wouldn’t say it’s off the cards, but we’ll just have to see what the body is feeling.”

Just two women – Jarmila Kratochvilova and Nadezhda Olizarenko – have ever recorded times under one minute and 54 seconds. The former set the current world record of one minute and 53.28 seconds in 1983.

I have said before that I think 1:53 is possible (but) you’ve got to really get that right,” said Hodgkinson.

“It’s got to be a really good day. It’s probably one of those one-off peak days where everything’s gone right. It definitely would be an aim of mine. It would be a great achievement to be getting closer and closer to that 1:53. I do believe it’s possible, but we’ll just have to see what happens.”

Hodgkinson has less than a month remaining until the 800 metres heats begin at the world championships in Tokyo, where she hopes to back up her Olympic victory with her first world title.

She even has the name of the Japanese capital tattooed on her arm, in commemoration of the place where she made her Olympic debut – and collected a silver medal – in 2021.

Hodgkinson’s injury-plagued post-Olympic year began with a recurrence of a knee issue before she sustained a left hamstring tendon injury in February, then injured her right hamstring in May, though it was “supposedly not as bad as the other one”.

The Atherton athlete and her team are now building speed back into her training – the injury, she revealed, is known as a ‘sprinter’s injury’ – ahead of the global showdown.

She added: “Things have gone really well. The body’s a lot stronger, all I’ve done is train all year so I’m definitely in a really good place physically. It’s just all about things coming together now and hopefully putting those mental blocks and barriers behind me.”