KEELY HODGKINSON arrives at her third Athletics World Championships determined to transform two previous 800 metre silvers into a long-awaited gold medal.
The 23-year-old British athlete enters the Tokyo competition as a strong favourite following her Olympic triumph in Paris last year and a remarkable recovery from injury.
Hodgkinson first captured global attention as a 19-year-old by winning silver behind American Athing Mu at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics while slashing nearly two seconds off her personal best.
She experienced another narrow defeat in the 2022 world final, losing to Mu by just eight hundredths of a second with Kenya’s Mary Moraa taking bronze.
The following year in Eugene saw Hodgkinson defeat Mu for the first time but still claim silver as Moraa surged to victory.
Hodgkinson prepared for the 2024 Olympics by breaking her own British record with a time of 1:54.61, making her the sixth fastest woman in history over the distance.
She delivered a flawless performance in Paris to claim gold, joining Ann Packer and Kelly Holmes as British women’s 800m Olympic champions and subsequently winning the BBC sports personality of the year award.
Her triumphant period was followed by a frustrating hamstring injury that forced withdrawal from February’s “Keely Klassic” event and threatened her Tokyo participation.
Hodgkinson made a stunning comeback on August 16 after a year away from competition, winning the Diamond League event in Silesia with a world-leading time of 1:54.74.
She reinforced her fitness days later in Lausanne by breaking a 23-year meeting record in difficult conditions with a time of 1:55.69.
Her coach revealed she was actually ahead of schedule in her recovery program ahead of the Tokyo championships.
Hodgkinson acknowledged the frustration of her injury setback but noted it made her successful return even more rewarding.
The absence of main rivals Athing Mu, who failed to qualify through the U.S. trials, and an out-of-form Mary Moraa improves her gold medal prospects.
Compatriot and training partner Georgia Hunter-Bell represents her primary competition after opting to focus solely on the 800m rather than the 1500m where she won Olympic bronze. – Reuters
