Keely Hodgkinson in positive mindset as European Championships offer 'blank slate'

Her outdoor season has not been close to what she imagined but the Olympic champion is ready to turn it all around when it comes to championship racing.

In beating Jolanda Ceplak’s indoor mark in Liévin, she broke a record that had stood since March 3, 2002, the day of Hodgkinson’s birth.

But outdoors, it is Jarmila Kratochvila’s 1983 record which still stands as the oldest in track and field, and despite moving to within a second of it, and going sixth of all time, Hodgkinson suffered back-to-back defeats to start her outdoor season before triumphing at the Wanda Diamond League in London.

Even that came in a time of 1:56.21, nearly two seconds off her best, with Hodgkinson certainly hoping for more.

But all will be forgotten at the European Athletics Championships in Birmingham where times go out the window and position is everything.

And while the formbook favours Switzerland’s Audrey Werro, who this summer became the first person to break 1:54 in the 800m since Kratochvila before doing it again three weeks later, Hodgkinson knows what it takes to win on the day.

Reflecting on her London performance, she said: “I felt pretty good. I was hoping for a bit more, but overall, I'm happy to take the win. It's been a tough couple of weeks, and it was great to compete in front of a home crowd.

"It was fun, but I just wanted a little bit more. Given the last couple of weeks, though, I'm happy enough.

“I don't think it's a reflection of where my training is. Sometimes it just takes a little while for things to come together. It's been a tough season so far, but I'm proud of how I've handled it.

“Birmingham is the important part now, so I'm really looking forward to it. Championship racing is very different from the circuit. It'll probably be three rounds in three days, which is completely different.

"There'll be no pacing, times don't matter, it's all about championship racing and handling pressure.

“I know my training is in a good place. I've always said I get a lot of my confidence from training because I know what I'm capable of. Championship racing is just a different mindset.

"On the circuit everyone's chasing times, but at championships it's a blank slate. I've gone in ranked No 1 and not won, and I've gone in ranked eighth and come away with a medal. That's what makes it exciting.”

In a summer with two home championships on British soil, Hodgkinson had no hesitation when it came to which to prioritise, skipping the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow to ensure she arrived in Birmingham in peak condition.

The Europeans have been a happy hunting ground for the now 24-year-old. It was four years ago in Munich that she arrived having won World Championship and Commonwealth silver – the latter ironically coming at Birmingham’s Alexander Stadium.

Add in an Olympic silver as a teenager in Tokyo, and it seemed like fate was conspiring against her winning an elusive first outdoor gold.

But in Munich, she swept aside all comers and cruised to victory, doing so again two years later in Rome despite illness just before that magical night in Paris.

At that point, it felt as though the former Leeds Beckett University student was on her way to overtaking Athing Mu as the greatest female 800m runner of her generation, but the aftermath has thrown up a few obstacles along the way.

A hamstring tear prevented her from appearing at her own meet, the Keely Klassic, and while she made it back in 2025 and headed to the World Championships as favourite, the one gold that has so far escaped her grasp did so once again. Kenya’s Lilian Odira took a surprise victory, while training partner Georgia Hunter Bell just got her on the line to push Hodgkinson into the bronze.

Given the injury-affected nature of the season, it was still a fine result and in 2026, Hodgkinson has an indoor world record and a world indoor title to her name.

But defeat to Werro in Stockholm, and then to Odira in Eugene, was not the plan, particularly as she arrived at the latter event with bashed up knees from a training fall.

She raced in Oregon with her knees bandaged up, but they are on the mend with all dressing removed for London.

“Heading into Prefontaine (Classic in Eugene) I had a fight with a metal grate,” added Hodgkinson.

“I was just cooling down after training. There was a metal mesh on the floor to stop people slipping, and there was a corner sticking up. I tripped up and my knees went straight into it.

“It took chunks out of both knees; it wasn't pretty at all.

“They finally feel good. I took the tape off earlier this week, which is a positive. It was unfortunate timing, but there wasn't much I could do about it. I've just had to deal with it and get through it.

“It's probably given me a bit of perspective. Sometimes it's just about enjoying it, relaxing and having fun. That's when I perform at my best. I just want to run freely and see what happens.”

To prepare for Birmingham, Hodgkinson flew straight out to Portugal for a training camp before hopefully hitting the ground running on her return.

The women’s 800m will be one of the most hotly anticipated events of the entire Championships, if not the most, given the battle between Werro and Hodgkinson.

But they are not the only two athletes who will fancy their chances of topping the podium.

Hunter Bell was absent in London because of a lingering cold, taking no chances ahead of a busy summer in which she is targeting both Commonwealth Games and Europeans.

The Olympic bronze medallist over 1500m won the world indoor title over the longer distance but has shown she can mix it with the world’s best over two laps since her Paris podium.

Perhaps the most intriguing entry will be Dutch superstar Femke Broeders-Bol, making the step up from 400m and 400m hurdles this season.

She is a double world champion in the latter and showed decent stamina to push Hodgkinson hard in London before eventually settling for second.

She and Hodgkinson know each other well, with the Brit not overly surprised at how quickly Broeders-Bol has made the transition.

She said: “She's built like a gazelle. She's been in some really fast races - Audrey in Ostrava, Audrey again in Paris, so when you're in races like that, the entire field ran fast in Paris, there was a lot of 1.55s and 1.56s.

"I'm happy for her. I look forward to seeing what the next few years are."

Whether Broeders-Bol can live with the pace if Werro and Hodgkinson really take it out and go for Kratochvila’s record is another question.

But as Keely was at pains to remind everyone, championship racing is a completely different beast where times go out the window.

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