Keely wants the 800m world record
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Reading Time: 2min | Thu. 26.12.24. | 19:58
Hodgkinson’s best times are 1:54.61 outdoors and 1:57.18
Keely Hodgkinson’s coaches believe that she is showing the form in training to potentially challenge both the world 800m indoor and outdoor records after a spectacular 2024.
The indoor world record of 1:55.82 was set by Jolanda Čeplak on 3 March 2002, the day the now Olympics champion was born, while the outdoor record of 1:53.28 was set by Jarmila Kratochvilova’s 1983.
The 22-year-old, who became Olympic 800m champion and went unbeaten over two laps all year, will make her first appearance since the summer at a meeting named the “Keely Klassic”, which takes place in Birmingham on February 15, 2025.
Trevor Painter and Jenny Meadows, who coach Hodgkinson and just short of 20 other elite athletes at M11 Track Club in South Africa, won the BBC Sports Personality Coaches of the Year award.
Meadows, a world and European medalist over 800m herself, believes that anything is possible for the British middle-distance runner over the next couple of years.
“We’ve seen all the hard work she’s been doing behind the scenes and I just know this will be the beginning for Keely,” Meadows told Athletics Weekly. “She’s got huge ambitions in the sport and she won’t stop until she’s won at least another gold medal at LA 2028. She’ll probably go beyond that as well.
We feel we now know how Keely can get both the indoor and outdoor world 800m record. We know when to push and back off and we’ve also trialled some things in training. Of course it always relies on consistency. The big aim in 2025 would be to win both the World Indoor Championships in Nanjing and World Outdoor Championships in Tokyo. Sounds easy doesn’t it?."
The coach continued, "In two years it’s probably the right time for the outdoor world record,” she added. “Physically we know Keely can run a 1:53 but 1:53.28 is something quite different. So 1:53 something in 2025 and hopefully we can push on in the future.”
Hodgkinson’s best times are 1:54.61 outdoors and 1:57.18 indoors, with the former set at the London Diamond League back in July.
Her proclamation is a direct message to her Kenyan competitor, World Champion Mary Moraa and Tokyo Olympic champion Athing Mu who are expected to be here challengers in the race for dominance in the distance.
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