Britain’s Olympic champion Keely Hodgkinson obliterated the world indoor 800m record, which has stood since 2002, by nearly a second in a stunning performance in Liévin.
Hodgkinson had made no secret that she believed the record of 1min 55.82sec, set by Slovenia’s Jolanda Ceplak on the same day Hodgkinson was born – 3 March 2002 – was there for the taking after a prep race at the British championships last week.
The 23-year-old proved as good as her word as she smashed a quality field that included Ethiopia’s Olympic silver medallist Tsige Duguma and Switzerland’s European Under-23 champion Audrey Werro, to lower Ceplak’s mark after running a staggering 1:54.87.
Asked for her reaction afterwards, a breathless Hodgkinson said: “Thank God! That was really fun. I’ve been looking forward to this for a good few weeks. I was really excited to come here. I felt like it was going to happen today, it was just a matter of how fast I could go. It was really hard that last lap, but I am super happy. It’s nice to have a world record and to say about something I am the best to ever do it. That’s really exciting. And I’ve been working at it for a long time.
“The last couple of years I have said I have really wanted it. It almost felt a bit weird that it was set on the day I was born, and 24 years later I break it. But I think there’s still more to push.”
For Hodgkinson it was a just reward for her perseverance. She had originally intended to break the record in her own event, the Keely Klassic, in Birmingham last February only to tweak her hamstring on the eve of the race.
She then had more problems with her hamstring and back after an eight-hour round trip to Windsor Castle to collect an MBE. While she recovered to win a bronze medal at the world championships in Tokyo in September, it was clear that she was not at her best.
But she has started the indoor season in superb form, and having gone through halfway in 55.56sec and through 600m in 1:25.06, she held her form enough to break the world indoor record – which World Athletics now call the short-track record – by 0.95sec.
It is another extraordinary addition to her CV that now includes an Olympic gold and silver, as well as two silvers and a bronze at world championships. Hodgkinson will now target one of the few medals she has not won – at the world indoor championships in Torun in Poland next month.
• This article was amended on 20 February 2026. An earlier version said Keely Hodgkinson set a new record of 1:54.88; however, her time was 1:54.87. This beat the existing record by 0.95sec, not 0.88sec.
