Keely Hodgkinson
I am running out of superlatives to describe Keely Hodgkinson. As a British writer, I have been privileged to follow her career in detail. I first recall seeing her in the GB Champs – indoor and out in 2020. I have watched her in two Olympics, two World Championships, two European Championships, a Commonwealth Games, several GB Championships and Diamond Leagues. I sat next to her at dinner at an event. I have spoken to her in mixed zones, press huddles and 1-2-1. She has achieved so much that it is hard to believe that she is only 24. From that shocking Olympic silver in Tokyo 2021 to the expected Olympic gold in Paris 2024, to her Indoor World Record, her achievements continue to grow.
She has the ability to combine elite athlete status with the ‘girl next door’ persona. She is a serious athlete without taking herself too seriously! Track and Field is a sport in the UK that struggles to attract public attention. Soccer is dominant in terms of TV coverage and newspaper articles. Outside of major championships, only the London Diamond League is shown live on a mainstream TV channel. Keely is probably the only current athlete, possibly Dina as well, who would be known to the general public.
Winning the Olympic 800 in Paris in 2024 established Keely right at the top of her profession. She was ready to kick on. A winter injury meant that she went into the 2025 Tokyo World Champs with just 2 races in 2025. She ran 1:54.90 but was only third. Undoubtedly, the lack of race-sharpness had cost her the 0.3 seconds she needed for the win. In 2025, she also had her own event, the Keely Klassic, but had to pull out due to an injury. Instead, she signed 1000 autographs and posed for 1000 selfies.
A hard winter set her up for a big 2026. She opened with a 1:56.33 in the prelim at the GB Champs. (She did not run the final as the selection criteria only required that she demonstrate her fitness. I believe it was a short selection meeting. “Is Keely fit? Well, she ran 1:56. All those in favour?”) She commented afterwards: “It was a personal challenge for me today. I had to come to qualify for the worlds, and that is why I was only doing one round. But it was a good test. It is three years since I ran indoors, so I knew I had to go out there and stay focused. I didn’t set out to run that fast, but I knew I wanted to get the first 400m right. We didn’t set out to run a world lead, but I started well and just kept it going. It was a nice surprise, it was a really strong day”.
Then she ran in the Lieven Indoor meet, winning in 1:54.87, setting a new World Record. She was quoted afterwards as saying, “Being the world record holder is something I knew I was capable of. Coming here, the question was more: how fast can I go? I’m pretty happy, but I believe there is more to give. A 1:54 indoors — it’s only my fourth time running under 1:55 — so it’s incredible. I wasn’t just here to break the record; I wanted to smash it. The atmosphere was amazing. It was a long wait for the race, and it’s going to be a long night because I won’t sleep — but it was worth it.”
Watch at World Record run at (3) World Athletics on X: “KEELY’S WORLD RECORD RUN 🤩 The indoor 800m world record is finally hers 🙏 ⏱️ 1:54.87 #WorldIndoorTour
KEELY’S WORLD RECORD RUN 🤩
The indoor 800m world record is finally hers 🙏
⏱️ 1:54.87#WorldIndoorTour pic.twitter.com/l9mIjCaFVi
— World Athletics (@WorldAthletics) February 19, 2026
At the 2026 World Indoors in Torun, she ran 2:00.32 and 1:58.53 to qualify for the final. She won the final in 1:55.30. And as she had no other plans for the evening, she ran the last leg of the 4X400 relay for GB an hour later, commenting: “It feels so, so nice being able to run and win. This is my first world title. I have been in so many finals, I have been a favourite so many times, and I had not won – so to do that and prove to myself that I can do it, remove the pressure and win the gold, it’s nice. I just ran a 50-second split in the relay, and I am actually so impressed with myself about it. I really wanted to do it. I have an amazing training group”.
It is frightening to think that it is only March and Keely has a full summer ahead. European Champion? Commonwealth Champion? World outdoor record? Who knows!
I have done 4 video interviews with Keely and one with Coach Trevor. Links below for you to download if interested. Using a video establishes my credibility to some extent.
The first video is from Zurich DL 2021, with Keely Hodgkinson:
Keely Hodgkinson, from Zurich DL 2021, interviewed by Stuart Weir. Keely has developed over the last five years. Now, Keely is the Olympic champion, World Champion, World Indoor Champion, and Indoor World record holder. Stuart Weir is the RunBlogRun senior writer for Europe and… pic.twitter.com/LiPd5xFWgo
— RunBlogRun (@RunBlogRun) March 30, 2026
Here’s the link to Stuart Weir’s four interview videos with Keely Hodgkinson:
The second is with Coach Trevor Painter:
Trevor Painter, coach of Keely Hodgkinson and Georgia Hunter-Bell, interviewed by Stuart Weir, RunBlogRun’s senior writer for Europe /UK. Trevor spoke about training and preparations for the 2023-2024 season. Very interesting interview. @Faster_feet, @BritAthletics,… pic.twitter.com/Y4g4vQybNX
— RunBlogRun (@RunBlogRun) March 30, 2026
Here’s the link to Stuart Weir’s interview with Trevor Painter, if you would like to download: https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/6le348v3w1qsgzee58tp6/Trevor-Painter-2023.MOV?rlkey=7xznsbkk2vgxz8n3apqewxc94&st=wcku6uxf&dl=0
