Keely Hodgkinson begins quest for quadruple in Birmimgham

By Kit Shepard

Last year brought an Olympic silver medal and a national 800m record but Keely Hodgkinson knows 2022 could be even bigger as she prepares for her first appearance of the season.

The Atherton ace produced one of the moments of the Tokyo Games as she stormed from sixth to second on the final lap of a thrilling Olympic final, shattering Kelly Holmes’ record in the process.

Now she has the not-so-small challenge of backing it up in a year featuring the World Championships, a home Commonwealth Games and European Championships in the space of a month – and that’s just the summer.

Before that is the indoor season, starting with Saturday's Müller Indoor Grand Prix in Birmingham, where Hodgkinson comes up against Natoya Goule - the Jamaican star who ran a world-leading 1:58.46 in a World Athletics Indoor Tour Gold meeting in Lievin on Thursday.

And the British runner is looking forward to facing Goule as she looks to lay down a marker for next month’s Indoor World Championships in Belgrade.

The 19-year-old said: “She ran really well, so it will be good to race her tomorrow.

“We’ve raced each other a few times now. I’m not sure who’s won more but she’s a good athlete so she’ll be pushing me all the way.”

Hodgkinson’s indoor record is also strong. Last year, she won European Championship gold and became the youngest women’s 800m winner in the competition's history and the youngest British indoor champion in any event since 1970.

As the new face of British middle-distance running, doors have opened and since her Olympic silver, Hodgkinson has been at the latest James Bond premiere and enjoyed a ride in an Aston Martin DB5.

“It was a lot of fun. A lot came of it and it’s been a roller-coaster dealing with it all,” she said.

“It’s been really good achieving what I always believed I could do and going out there and showing people I could do it.”

Hodgkinson will be accompanied by teammates Adelle Tracey and Jenny Selman, who ran an indoor personal best (2:00.70) earlier this month, in Saturday’s race.

The Birmingham Indoor Grand Prix will be her first 800m race on British soil since the Olympics, and she is excited about competing in front of home supporters.

She said: “It’s almost like a bit of a normality going back into racing, so I’m just excited to get back out there, especially with a home crowd.”

With such a packed schedule, Hodgkinson may have to be selective over what she competes in. After tomorrow, she will only run indoors twice more this season, at next week’s British Indoor Championships and March’s World Indoor Championships in Belgrade.

Once the outdoor season arrives, Hodgkinson is clear on what she will focus on, with a home Commonwealth Games, also in Birmingham, at the top of her list.

She said: “We’re going to prioritise the Worlds and Commonwealths, and just see how tired my body is for the Europeans.

“One of the things that really pushed me to do [the Commonwealth Games] was the home crowd because I don’t know how many chances I’m going to get to do that.”

She will get one chance tomorrow in Birmingham, as the fifth leg of the World Athletics Indoor Tour Gold is held.

The series involves seven marquee events over five weeks, with an athlete’s top three results counting towards their overall score and Hodgkinson is not the only star competing in the West Midlands.

Elaine Thompson-Herah, Olympic champion over 100m and 200m and the second-fastest woman ever in both disciplines, will run in the 60m.

Mariya Lasitskene, the Olympic and World high jump champion, will do battle with Britain’s Emily Borthwick, while Sophie Hahn, Paralympic champion in the T38 100m, and 200m, will run in the 60m alongside compatriot Kadeena Cox, who won T38 400m gold at the 2016 Paralympics.

There is also a strong list of male competitors, including American sprinters Noah Lyles and Ronnie Baker, and pole vault world record holder Mondo Duplantis.