LIEVIN: Olympic champion Keely Hodgkinson broke the women’s indoor 800m world record on Thursday at the meet in Lievin, France, with a time of 1 min 54.87sec.
Hodgkinson shaved almost a second off the mark set by Slovenia’s Jolanda Ceplak of 1 min 55.82 sec on March 3, 2002 — the day of Hodgkinson’s birth.
“Thank God. That was really fun, I was really looking forward to this,” Hodgkinson told the crowd in the north of France.
Hodgkinson flew through the opening 400m in 55.56sec as she swiftly distanced herself from the competition.
On the final lap, she strode away to come in 0.95sec ahead of the near 24-year record.
On Saturday, the 23-year-old had clocked 1:56.33, without a pacemaker or the assistance of pace-setting lights at the edge of the track — the third-fastest time in the history of the British Athletics Championships.
Published in Dawn, February 21st, 2026
