Keely Hodgkinson Eyes Another World Record on Home Soil: 'Hopefully Just the Beginning'

The Olympic 800m champion believes she is closer than ever to another world record and hopes to deliver something special in London after her recent breakthrough performance.

Olympic champion Keely Hodgkinson believes she is ‘closer than ever’ to shattering the women's 800m outdoor world record, the longest-standing mark in all of athletics.

The formidable record of 1:53.28 seconds was set by Jarmila Kratochvilova in Munich back in July 1983. However, after breaking the indoor world record on Thursday, Keely Hodgkinson is confident she can surpass Kratochvilova's time and achieve a feat that would ‘cement her place as the greatest of all time.’

"It's not an easy feat, and there's a reason it has stood for so long," Keely Hodgkinson said in an interview with BBC Sport.

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"I think this is the closest I've felt near it. I do really believe that we can break it, but a lot of things have got to come together."

Keely Hodgkinson's sensational indoor performance in France saw her clock 1:54.87, erasing a world record that had stood since March 3, 2002, the very day she was born.

Her coach, Jenny Meadows, suggested the time could have been even faster, and Hodgkinson herself is aiming for more.

"I've known for weeks I'm capable of breaking it. It's just a matter of getting out on the day," she stated. "We can push it even further in the future, as long as I stay healthy, and I think this is hopefully just the beginning."

This recent triumph follows a challenging period for the 23-year-old, who claimed Olympic gold in Paris in 2024. A torn hamstring just months after her victory left her unable to train, forcing a long and arduous comeback.

"After winning the Olympics, it really wasn't what I thought was going to happen," she reflected. "It makes you stop and strip back everything and think, why is this happening? What are the problems? But, we got through it, I became a stronger person, and I think this is now the reward of all of that happening."

Keely Hodgkinson: We Are on the Right Path

While Keely Hodgkinson acknowledges that a perfect race is needed to break Kratochvilova's record, her recent form has convinced many in the sport that it is only a matter of time.

World Athletics President Lord Coe even told the Sunday Times he expects her to achieve it this year. Kratochvilova's performance has long been shadowed by allegations of links to a state-sponsored doping program in her home country, which she has always denied.

Her time remains over a second faster than Hodgkinson's current outdoor personal best of 1:54.61, a British record set in London in 2024.

"We're on the right path, and we've seen evidence in training that we think that it's possible," Hodgkinson said. "I think the reason this year has gone so well for me is that I've had my healthiest winter training I've had in years."

Although the specific race for a record attempt is yet to be decided, Keely Hodgkinson expressed a desire to deliver a special performance on home soil.

"My coach did say two years ago that 2026 will be a good year," she noted. "London is very special to me. I would love nothing more than to do something like that in front of a home crowd."

Next on the agenda is the World Athletics Indoor Championships in Poland this March, where Keely Hodgkinson will be the clear favourite for gold.