Keely Hodgkinson’s planned assault on athletics’s oldest track world record will have to wait until next year after the Olympic champion called time on her season because of a minor injury.
Hodgkinson has dominated the women’s 800m scene this year, winning all nine of her outdoor races over two laps, culminating in her golden triumph in Paris earlier this month.
The 22-year-old had been due to race at the Diamond League final in Brussels early next month, but revealed on social media that she has now pulled stumps on her campaign.
"No more races for me," she posted on Instagram. "Unfortunately I picked up a small injury, but we achieved everything I had hope to do this year, thank you for all the love and support.
"See you on the track next year.”
Hodgkinson lowered her own British record to 1:54.61 at the London Diamond League in July, a performance that moved her to No6 on the world all-time list.
Czech athlete Jarmila Kratochvilova still holds the world record of 1:53.28, which was set in Munich in 1983, and only South Africa’s Caster Semenya has come within even a second of that mark in the past 15 years.
Speaking at a Team GB homecoming event in Manchester earlier this week, however, Hodgkinson confirmed breaking that record is firmly on her radar.
"It's definitely something I've thought about since I raced in London,” she said. "I think that record has stood for so long. It's been a long time since anyone has hit [one minute] 53 seconds, so I'd love to do that. I think I can. I now believe I can do that.”
There could, however, be an attempt on the men’s 800m world at the Lausanne Diamond League meeting on Thursday evening.
Four of the top five from the Olympic final are in the field, with US record-holder Bryce Hoppel revealing they have asked for a pace that would put them inside David Rudisha’s mark of 1:40.91 from London 2012.
Britain’s Matthew Hudson-Smith is also due to race over 400m, while shock Olympic champion Cole Hocker will meet Jakob Ingebrigtsen over 1500m.
