6 days ago
Keely Hodgkinson has dangled nan intriguing anticipation that July’s London Diamond League meeting could beryllium nan time wherever she takes down Jarmila Kratochvilova’s 42-year-old 800m world record.
The Olympic champion said she would hold until person to nan clip earlier deciding whether to effort to amended nan Czech’s clip of 1min 53.28sec, nan oldest way and section world grounds still standing.
She joked that nan gathering could move into a “battle of nan world records”, pinch Josh Kerr, Britain’s 1500m 2023 world golden medallist, aiming for a world mile grounds and nan rod vaulter Armand Duplantis besides competing.
“I would emotion to person that hap connected location soil,” she said erstwhile asked astir taking a ace astatine nan 800m world record. “I get really excited astir London. There’s conscionable nan full crowd and everything. As a British personification it’s conscionable truthful overmuch nosy and it’s decidedly nan main point I’m looking guardant to this year. It mightiness beryllium a conflict of nan world records and who tin get astir one.”
“We person a scheme A of what we would for illustration to happen. Obviously, nan athletics has its ain plans sometimes. If I hap to travel into style wherever I want to spell astatine it sooner aliases it happens to beryllium later successful nan season, that could conscionable beryllium really it goes.”
Hodgkinson confirmed she was successful premier style having kicked connected successful training aft breaking nan world indoor grounds successful February and winning nan world indoor championships successful March. “So far, nan mentation has gone very, very well,” she said.
“I’m very happy pinch wherever I’m at, I’m building connected nan indoor play that we’ve had. I’ve been patient for a twelvemonth now. I’ve not missed a training session, truthful I’m successful a really, really bully place. I’ve been capable to put together a velocity artifact that we dream is going to travel together pinch my 800 successful a fewer weeks.”
The 24-year-old starts her outdoor play adjacent week pinch a 400m successful Rome earlier travelling to Stockholm connected 7 June for her first 800m of the season.
“The lineup successful Rome is crazy,” she said. “I’ve really thrown myself successful nan heavy end. But it’s rather bully to put myself successful a position wherever connected paper, I deliberation I’m going successful slowest and against girls that person been doing this arena and are world finalists and Olympic medallists. But I’ve ever considered myself a 400m-800m type athlete.
“I don’t deliberation I’ve shown each my imaginable successful nan 400m and I sewage a spot of a glimpse of what I could do indoors truthful I’m really excited to bring that outdoors. People complete nan years are like: ‘Keely’s sewage nary speed’ but yes I do.”
Hodgkinson said she has identified immoderate awesome targets distant from winning medals. “I was reasoning astir it nan different day: ‘Wouldn’t it beryllium really cool if I could do a sub-50, a sub-2 and a sub-4 successful my career?” she said. “It’s very difficult. But it’s a bully small situation to person successful nan background.”
