Untouchable Hodgkinson Smashes Women's Indoor 800m World Record
Keely Hodgkinson had been preparing for this moment for years.
When she stepped onto the indoor track in France on Thursday, the British athlete and her team "had no doubt" she would break the 800m indoor world record—and she did so in remarkable fashion.
However, Hodgkinson's journey since winning the Olympic 800m title at Paris 2024 has not been without challenges.
The 23-year-old faced injury issues last year that tested her both physically and mentally. Despite these setbacks, she has returned stronger, with her training group, the M11 Track Club, referring to her as 'Keely 2.0'.
She demonstrated her return to peak form with an outstanding indoor performance in Liévin, finishing in 1 minute 54.87 seconds to shatter a world record that had stood since 3 March 2002—the very day Hodgkinson was born.
This is how Hodgkinson secured her place in the history books.
Picking the Track
Since 2019, Hodgkinson has trained under coaches Trevor Painter and Jenny Meadows in Manchester.
Meadows, a former international runner, was present in France to witness her protégé reduce the 800m indoor record by nearly a second, a record set by Slovenia's Jolanda Čeplak almost 24 years ago.
"She actually said to me the day before: 'obviously I know I'm going to get it'," said Meadows.
"There had been so many benchmarks we measure in training, we had no doubt that she would do it.
"Her biggest fear was to set a world record, but be disappointed with the time. She said 'what if I can't smile? What if I've got the world record, and everyone's so excited, and I think, oh that was rubbish. I could have gone faster'?"
The date—19 February 2026—had long been marked in the diary by Meadows and Hodgkinson, as the Liévin track is known for its speed.
"Liévin has had a lot of world records over the years, and we kind of thought 'you know what, let's go with the statistics'," Meadows explained.
"We're only probably going to get one opportunity during this indoor season to go for it. So that's the event that we picked, and that's the date we've really had etched in our minds the last three months."
"I've got to say, the time she did was the bare minimum of what she was happy with," Meadows added.
"She definitely would have liked to run faster, and there was definitely half a second, maybe even up to one second in those legs."
Knowing What It Takes
Jenny Meadows and Keely Hodgkinson at a winter training camp in South Africa
Meadows retired from competitive athletics in 2016. As a former world and European medallist over 800m, she understood precisely what it takes to make history.
"800m is so tough, your body is literally breaking down from the training," she said.
"Keely can be doing certain repetitions, and she's being physically sick from the lactic acid. It's a little bit inhumane at times."
In the lead-up to Thursday's race, Meadows noted that the team learned from previous years and avoided overtraining Hodgkinson, instead trusting the process and their athlete.
"Keely is a really interesting character. I was quite robotic and could follow a routine. Keely keeps us on our toes. We have to keep her interested. So we're always trying to do little different goals for her."
"We've not been greedy, we've really held back and said we need to believe in our process. We need to believe in our product. We need to believe in our athlete, that Keely can stand on that start line and deliver when the eyes of the world are on her."
Winning the Mental Battle
"She wants to be the best of all time" - Meadows on Hodgkinson
Nine months ago, the success achieved in Liévin would have seemed a distant dream for Hodgkinson.
She had planned to attempt the 800m indoor world record at her own Keely Klassic event in February 2025 and "was in great shape," according to Meadows.
However, a hamstring injury forced Hodgkinson to withdraw, regroup, and retrain—only for the injury to recur 12 weeks later.
Despite setbacks and reduced training, she competed at the World Athletics Championships in September, earning bronze behind GB teammate Georgia Hunter Bell and winner Kenya's Lilian Odira.
"It was phenomenal, given the very little preparation [Hodgkinson] did but I doubt she's ever looked at that medal again. She wants the gold, she wants the records, and that is what was driving her forward," said Meadows.
"She isn't the most talented athlete I have ever seen. The difference between Keely and a lot of others is mindset, she can get the best out of herself on a daily basis."
'A Legend of the Sport' - What Comes Next?
Hodgkinson's world record came five days after setting a new British 800m mark at the UK Athletics Indoor Championships in Birmingham.
In less than a month, Hodgkinson will travel to Poland to compete in the World Athletics Indoor Championships as a strong favourite for gold.
Beyond that, she has another goal in sight—the outdoor 800m world record, which has stood longer than any other in athletics.
In July 1983, Czech athlete Jarmila Kratochvílová set the women's outdoor 800m world record with a time of 1:53.28.
More than 43 years later, Hodgkinson aims to surpass that mark and make further history.
"She wants that more than the indoor record. Her ambition is to be a legend of the sport," said Meadows.
Kratochvílová's time remains over a second faster than Hodgkinson's current personal best of 1:54.61, a national record she set in London in 2024.
Her coach believes London could be the venue for what would arguably be Hodgkinson's greatest achievement.
"I think she would like to do it in the UK. London always delivers a great crowd, a great occasion. In 2026 I think she can definitely run under 1:54...
"If she goes in on uninterrupted training, she really does stand a chance."
