In a city steeped in the history of British women’s distance running, Olympic silver medallist Keely Hodgkinson is set to make her own bid for greatness at the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo.
Her campaign begins with the women’s 800m heats on 18 September, at the same National Stadium where Ann Packer claimed Olympic gold in 1964. The last British woman to win a track distance title at these championships was Liz McColgan, who took the 10,000m crown in 1991—also in Tokyo.
Now Hodgkinson returns to the same evocative arena where, at just 19, she burst onto the global stage with silver at the Tokyo Olympics, determined to etch her name into the record books.
Since then, she has become a consistent global force, taking silver at both the 2022 and 2023 World Athletics Championships before finally breaking through for her first major title with Olympic gold in Paris last year. Now, her focus has sharpened: the world gold that has so far eluded her.
The road back from injury
The road back has not been smooth.
A hamstring injury forced her to miss the entire indoor season and the early months of this year’s outdoor campaign. But when she returned at the Silesia Diamond League on 16 August-her first race in more than a year-she reminded the world of her class.
She stormed to a world-leading 1:54.74, then backed it up just four days later with another commanding win in Lausanne. In less than a week, Hodgkinson had transformed her season from near write-off to golden opportunity.
Turning silver to gold
Since bursting onto the scene in Tokyo, her career has carried the weight of expectation. Silver medals that might once felt like triumphs, stung as near misses.
With Olympic gold and two European titles (Munich 2022, Roma 2024) already in her collection, Hodgkinson is now chasing the world crown that would complete her golden hat-trick.
Her success is not hers alone. Behind her is a formidable training group led by coach Trevor Painter and mentor Jenny Meadows, the former European indoor champion.
The squad includes Olympic 1500m bronze medallist Georgia Hunter Bell, European Indoor 3000m champion Sarah Healy, Oceania 800m record-holder Catriona Bisset, and rising male middle distance star Ethan Hussey. That daily competition has sharpened Hodgkinson, even during her time away from racing.
Hunter Bell will be among her biggest challengers in Tokyo, alongside Switzerland’s Audrey Werro, the European U23 champion who has clocked 1:55.91 this year.
Meanwhile, the USA’s Athing Mu, Tokyo Olympic and world champion in 2022, has drifted from contention, and defending champion Mary Moraa of Kenya arrives in Tokyo short of her best form.
Now, history beckons. In the stadium where her journey first captured global attention, Hodgkinson has the chance to deliver not only for herself, but for British women’s distance running.
