Keely Hodgkinson WR:
Last Saturday I watched Keeley Hodgkinson run the GB Indoor 800m record at the GB Indoor Champs in Birmingham. His time was 1:56.33. But he was only practicing.
The big race of the week has happened Livin’s meeting In northern France. I wasn’t there this year, but I’ve attended before. Liewyn is an old mining area Pas-de-Calaisnear Lens, about 100 miles north of Paris. It’s a small town of only 30,000 people, but with a beautiful indoor arena. Media food is French. Excellent. An incredible cake and board to die for! Unfortunately not in person this year.
in livin Kelly finished in 1:54.87 almost a second behind Yolanda Cheplak’s 2002 record. Supreme irony with a twist fate is Kelly was born on the same day – March 3, 2002 – that Cheplak set a mark and felt for a while that it was his destiny to win the record. With Ceplak serving a two-year suspension for the drug violation, many of us were pleased that the tainted record was expunged.
Kelly then said: “Being a world record holder is something I knew I was capable of. Coming in here, it was more about how fast can I go? I’m pretty happy with it, but I think there’s more to give. 1:54 at home, it’s the fourth time I’ve run under 1:55, so that’s really incredible. I want to thank all the girls for pushing me. the record, I absolutely wanted to break it, I’m really happy with it.
“It was really exciting all day and I had a feeling it was going to happen today. It’s been a long wait for the contest to start and it’s going to be a long night because I’m not going to sleep now. But it was worth it and the atmosphere was amazing. I’m looking forward to the future and seeing how far I can push it. There was a lot of chatter online, but I kept looking at my phone. in this position, so I welcome the pressure and try to give my best.
“It’s incredible that the world record stood for almost 24 years. It’s been around for a long time and I know a lot of people wanted it, so I’m proud to be the one to crack it. I have a lot of people behind me who believe in me, which is really good. The season has already gone better than I expected. I told my coach that back in December I would be very happy to start this season if I did it. The starting line has been even better for the past few years. This relaxed approach because I haven’t missed a single season in years, so it’s really exciting and I’m very grateful.
I was privileged to be at the stadium to see Kiley
- Take silver and gold at the 2021 and 2024 Olympics
- Take silver at the world championships in Oregon and Budapest
- Become European Champion in Munich and Rome
- Become a Commonwealth Champion Birmingham
- To win in Istanbul within the European
- Win the Diamond League Finals as well as a number of individual DL races
I have spoken to him on 1-2-1 and on a number of occasions as part of the GB press box.
Well done Keely! Well done coaches Trevor Painter and Jenny Meadows.
