It was supposed to merely be a speed-work session and a chance to stay race-fit.  Instead, Keely Hodgkinson began her warm-up and then ran off the track in tears during the UK Championships. Given the 24-year-old’s storied injury history, fans and critics alike were worried that she was in for another “s**t-show” of a summer.

Instead, the Briton somewhat assuaged fears. The reigning World Indoor 800m champion took to Instagram after her withdrawal to ease tensions amid concerns that had spread across social media.

“Leaving champs healthy!” Hodgkinson wrote on her Instagram story. “Sometimes the hard decision is saying no. Body wasn’t feeling 100 per cent, exciting summer ahead!”

“I wasn’t feeling 100 per cent standing on the start line, so I made the tough decision to step away and not race,” Hodgkinson revealed (via the Independent). “I didn’t want to risk anything this summer.”

This is not surprising. The 24-year-old has made it abundantly clear that her target this summer is Jarmila Kratochvílova’s 1:53.28 800m outdoor world record. After all, Keely Hodgkinson already took the indoor 800m world record earlier this year. The Briton ran a stunning 1:54.87 in February to break Jolanda Ceplak’s record set on the very date Hodgkinson was born.

A month later, the 24-year-old won her maiden world title, claiming her first World Indoor Championship title in Poland. Considering the horrid 2025 season she endured, it marked a complete U-turn. The British athlete tore her hamstring, which forced her to withdraw from the 2025 World Indoors.

Following that, she struggled to perform at her best, only returning in August and winning bronze at the Tokyo World Championships. However, 2026, so far, has been going swimmingly. Since winning her maiden world title in February, Keely Hodgkinson has made it crystal clear that her goal this season is to take Kratochvílova’s record.

The 24-year-old has started her outdoor 800m season well, lowering her national record and personal best in the first outdoor 800m race. That was despite a shock loss to Audrey Werro at the Stockholm Diamond League. With her eyes now on the London Diamond League meet in July, her tearful withdrawal from the UK Championships does raise a few questions.

Keely Hodgkinson is still slated to race at the Eugene DL on July 4, followed by the London DL two weeks later. Only time will tell whether her “plan A” is still in action, but Hodgkinson is hell-bent on breaking the record in 2026.

Keely Hodgkinson opens up on her world record target

For the last two seasons, injuries have hit Keely Hodgkinson hard. In 2025, the Olympian struggled with hamstring issues after tearing it ahead of the World Indoors. That affected her entire season, with the Brit only returning in mid-August.

2024 saw her struggle with more injuries, but she recovered to win gold in the 800m at the Paris Olympics. However, a year on from her torn hamstring, Hodgkinson is fit, fast, and in fine fettle, having already broken the 800m indoor world record.

“We’ve obviously got a plan A of what we’d like to happen,” Hodgkinson told The Athletic.

“If I come into shape and want to go at it sooner, or it happens to be a bit later in the season, that could just be how it goes. I’m very happy with where I’m at, building on the indoor season. I’ve been healthy for a year now. I’ve not missed a training session.”

It will take an impressive effort. That’s because at the moment, Keely Hodgkinson sits sixth on the charts with a time of 1:54.33. It’s behind Kratochvílova (1:53.28), Nadezhda Olizarenko (1:53.43), Audrey Werro (1:53.98), Pamela Jelimo (1:54.01), and Caster Semenya (1:54.25). 

However, after thriving in the 400m, clocking the fastest split as Team Great Britain won the 4x400m relay at the World Indoors, she’s more than ready for the record.

“I’ve always considered myself a 400/800 type athlete,” Hodgkinson added. “I don’t think I’ve shown all my potential in the 400 and I got a bit of a glimpse of what I could do indoors. I’m still very much learning the event.

“Hopefully bringing down that 400 time, it’s going to make that 800 feel nice. Over the years, people have been like, ‘Keely’s got no speed.’ I’m like: Yes, I do!” 

For now, the most important thing for Hodgkinson is that she walked away from the UK Championships healthy, even if it meant abandoning a race she had intended to use as preparation. With Eugene and London still on the horizon, only time will tell how fit the Olympic champion is.