Keely Hodgkinson is the headline athlete in the women's 800m at the Wanda Diamond League event in London today, determined to overcome a freak training injury that left her with bashed-up knees.
Pulled hamstrings and stiff Achilles tendons are the usual injuries for athletes, but Hodgkinson suffered a shock fall before the Prefontaine Classic in Eugene at the start of the month. The Olympic 800m champion insists she is in much better shape for the London meet.
Hodgkinson tripped on a metal grate during a cool-down after training, taking chunks out of both knees. The fall hindered her preparations for Eugene, where she suffered a second successive defeat to Kenyan world champion Lilian Odira. That loss followed a defeat to Switzerland's Audrey Werro in Stockholm, meaning Hodgkinson is still searching for her first outdoor 800m win of the season.
Recovery and Perspective
Hodgkinson explained: “I’m definitely better than I was heading into Prefontaine when I had a fight with a metal grate. I was just cooling down after training. There was a metal mesh on the floor to stop people slipping, and there was a corner sticking up. I tripped up and my knees went straight into it. It took chunks out of both knees; it wasn't pretty at all.”
The immediate aftermath was challenging—standing up and sitting proved difficult, and the emotional toll was draining. However, Hodgkinson gained perspective: “It's probably given me a bit of perspective. Sometimes it's just about enjoying it, relaxing, and having fun. That's when I perform at my best. I just want to run freely and see what happens.”
Strong Competition in London
In London, Hodgkinson will face Olympic silver medallist Tsige Duguma of Ethiopia and Dutch superstar Femke Broeders-Bol, who has stepped up from 400m and 400m hurdles this season. Broeders-Bol has made a fast start to middle-distance running, including an impressive 1min55 in Paris last month.
Hodgkinson praised Broeders-Bol: “She's built like a gazelle. She's been in some really fast races—Audrey in Ostrava, Audrey again in Paris, so when you're in races like that, the entire field ran fast in Paris, there was a lot of 1:55s and 1:56s. I'm happy for her. I look forward to seeing what the next few years are. We don't live in the same place obviously, but we go on camp to the same places, so we always meet up for coffee or lunch, and we text quite a lot.”
Focus on Victory, Not Records
Hodgkinson holds a British record this season and was tipped to challenge Jarmila Kratochvila’s long-standing world record after winning the world indoor title. But her recent fall has put those ambitions on hold. She is focused on winning her first outdoor 800m on British soil since her Olympic triumph in Paris two years ago.
She added: “I haven’t missed any training. I feel quite good. I’m just taking the pressure off myself because I don’t have anything to prove. I don’t need to chase anything just because anybody else wants it to be done. I’m in really good shape and in a really good place. I think fast times come from great races. If that’s (in London) then great. If it’s in a few weeks or next year, I don’t care. For me, it’s winning and being back on top, especially after these last couple of weeks when it’s been a bit difficult, so that’s my main focus.”
