Olympic gold medalist Keely Hodgkinson of Britain destroyed a world record that had been untouchable for more than two decades, crushing the women’s indoor 800-meter mark Thursday at a track meet in France.
The 23-year-old runner blazed to a time of 1:54.87 at the World Athletics Indoor Tour Gold competition in Lievin, obliterating the previous record of 1:55.82 by nearly a full second. That former mark was established by Slovenia’s Jolanda Ceplak on March 3, 2002 – remarkably, the same day Hodgkinson was born.
Following her record-breaking performance, Hodgkinson expressed gratitude to the enthusiastic spectators. “Thank you for the amazing crowd,” she said according to the World Athletics website. “I could hear you all the way around.”
The British star has been in exceptional form this season, posting a strong 1:56.33 time at the UK Indoor Championships just last weekend.
Hodgkinson dominated the race from the beginning, hitting the 200-meter split in 26.47 seconds and reaching 400 meters in 55.56 seconds. She maintained her commanding lead through the 600-meter mark at 1:25.06, leaving the rest of the field far behind as she approached the record-breaking finish.
Switzerland’s Audrey Werro crossed the line in a distant second place as Hodgkinson powered through the final stretch to secure her place in track and field history.
The British athlete earned Olympic silver at the Tokyo 2021 Games before capturing gold at the Paris 2024 Olympics.
