Keely Hodgkinson storms to sensational comeback win in Poland

In her first race since the Paris Games last year, the Olympic champion clocks world lead of 1:54.74 at the Diamond League in Silesia

Keely Hodgkinson brushed off the rust at the Diamond League in Poland on Saturday (Aug 16) when she clocked a world leading mark for 800m of 1:54.74.

It was also a meeting a record and the second fastest time of her career – just short of her British record of 1:54.61 – as she beat her nearest rival, Lilian Odira of Kenya, by almost two seconds.

Hodgkinson hadn’t raced since the Olympic final more than a year ago but she looked like she’d never been away from the track as she posted a time that was almost a second faster than she ran to win gold in Paris.

Any fears that she might be short of fitness after pulling her hamstring on both legs at various points this year proved unfounded as she followed pacemaker Lisanne de Witte through 400m in 56.09.

At this stage she was two metres behind De Witte but took over at 500m and pulled away from the rest of the field down the back straight before going through 600m in 85.41.

After missing multiple weeks of training this year, there were concerns she would be short of fitness. It didn’t look that way on Saturday afternoon, though, as she continued to cruise away from her rivals.

Her coaching team of Trevor Painter and Jenny Meadows also stated she had focused more on endurance training rather than speedwork in order to protect her hamstrings in recent weeks, but she looked as sharp as ever as she stormed to a world leading mark.

Fans and fellow athletes felt she might need much longer than the next month to get fully ready for the World Championships in Tokyo in mid-September, but the organisers of the biggest athletics event of 2025 could hold the women’s 800m final tomorrow and she would start favourite.

In a summer where most of her traditional rivals such as Athing Mu and Mary Moraa are not running at their best, Hodgkinson has swiftly assumed the mantle again of world No.1.

“The track here is very fast,” said Hodgkinson. “I wanted to open my season today, I was ready and it worked.

“I was just happy to step on the track after more than a year. As I got closer to the race I got more and more relaxed. I enjoyed the feeling of the race.

“I planned to run a fast time because I do not have five races anymore before Tokyo, I only have today and the meeting in Lausanne. So it had to be fast and I am happy that it worked.”