Olympic 800m champion Keely Hodgkinson’s season is over due to injury, she announced. The 22-year-old British athlete was due to compete at the Diamond League in September, but has announced she will not appear on the track again until the end of 20024.
“No more races for me!! Unfortunately I picked up a small injury, but we achieved everything I had hoped to do this year, thank you for all the love and support!! see you on the track next year!”, wrote Keely Hodgkinson on her Instagram account.
Keely Hodgkinson, who has won all nine of her 800m events this year, returned from France and set her sights on breaking the world record of 1:53.28 min, which has stood since 1983. However, that will have to wait until next year, when she will also be looking to improve on her previous two silver medals at the World Championships when the Japanese capital Tokyo hosts the world championships in September.
Keely Hodgkinson won the silver medal at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, breaking the British record set by Kelly Holmes in 1995. She proceeded to win silver medals at several championships; the 2022 and 2023 World Championships, as well as the 2022 Commonwealth Games. Continentally, Keely Hodgkinson went one step higher, becoming a two-time European champion from 2022 and 2024 and a two-time European indoor champion from 2021 and 2023. She also holds the world indoor best for the 600m and was the 2021 and 2023 Diamond League 800m champion, her first ‘global’ titles.