Keely Hodgkinson successfully defended her 800m title at the World Indoor Championships in Torun, clocking one minute 55.30 seconds – the second-fastest indoor time in history. The 24-year-old Olympic champion led a golden trio for Great Britain, with Georgia Hunter Bell winning the 1500m and Molly Caudery taking pole vault gold within a 30-minute span.
Hodgkinson’s victory came despite her tendency to ignore her coaches’ advice. Jenny Meadows, who co-coaches Hodgkinson at the M11 Track Club with Trevor Painter, revealed that the athlete often exceeds prescribed training limits. “Keely is supposed to do an hour some days on the bike and we know she’s done 90 minutes,” Meadows said. “We’ve had to rein her back.”
The British star also shone in the 4x400m relay, running the fastest split of any athlete – 50.1 seconds – just an hour after her individual triumph. “Give me that f****** baton and I will give you a 50-point [time],” she told Citius Mag, adding, “I’m so impressed with myself. The thing is I knew I could do it.”
Painter noted Hodgkinson’s pre-race confidence: “Warming up, she was like, ‘I feel amazing. I won’t be surprised if I get a PB here.’ I went, ‘OK, your PB is a world record.’” Hodgkinson, who overcame injury issues last year, has set her sights on Jarmila Kratochvilova’s outdoor record of 1:53.28 from 1983.
Reflecting on her form, Hodgkinson said: “My word this year has been domination. When I’m in the shape of my life, why leave it to chance? If you want to beat me, I’ll make you work hard for it.”
