Keeley Hodgkinson showed she is intact at full fitness with her world record run in Leeuwin. The Olympic champion has created herself a great opportunity to add another medal to her ever-growing collection, writes Catherine Merry.
It’s the place every athlete wants to be, but so rarely encounters: 100 percent fitness. No aches, no pains, no grumbles, no grumbles, a consistent charm of a good workout under the belt and a clear path ahead. It’s such a delicious feeling, but the situation can be so fleeting that you have to grab the opportunity with both hands when the window is open.
As we head into the World Indoor Championships, Keely Hodgkinson has just that opportunity. You can see it in his body language, you can hear it when he talks, and most importantly, it’s evident in his performances on the track this year.
When he broke the then British record of 1:56.33 at the British Indoor Championships in Birmingham last month, it was clear that after four months of training, he was cracking down to test his form.
You know if Kelly shows up to the race it’ll be decent, but this was a truly phenomenal solo performance that was effectively a time trial. His trainers, Trevor Painter and Jenny Meadows, were sitting just outside the commentary booth as the race unfolded, and Keely shouldn’t have run that fast. He should have run a solid 400m and then brought it home, perhaps setting some bars down at points in the second half, but he’s in such a good place that he couldn’t help himself and eventually attempted his world record in Levin a few days later.
He was very forward with his plan to race in France and it would have meant he was only going to race in the UK Indoors heat, so I think he will be hurt by some of the negative comments he has received about it. But I also think it might have put a little fire in his belly and contributed to his world record run.
His confidence is off the charts now and the level he has raised his game to has been hugely impressive. Switzerland’s Audrey Verreau is no slouch and is turning into a very good athlete, but when Keely set foot, she dropped him like a rock. You could see it was a complete change of gear and none of her opponents could do anything about it as she soared to 1:54.87. When Keely is fully fit, I don’t think anyone around can touch him right now.
Maybe there is one, but he’s keeping an incredibly low profile right now. When I woke up the morning after breaking that world record, the first person I thought of was Ating Mu and how times have changed. It wasn’t that long ago that the American was beating Kiley to win the Olympic and world titles, but since then the trajectories of the two have diverged dramatically. One has gone to heaven and the other has fallen off the face of the earth (at least for now).
Both in their early twenties, this should have been an on-and-off rivalry, but it doesn’t materialize. Who knows, maybe we’ll see Ating re-emerge as a force to be reckoned with closer to the Los Angeles Olympics, and he certainly can, but I’d be really interested in getting a penny for his thoughts right now. I wonder what he makes of it all.
Kelly spoke about how she is closing in on Yarmila Kratochvilova’s controversial outdoor 800m world record of 1:53.28, which has stood for so long, and this could be her year to do it. Does he need someone like Moo breathing down his neck to help him get there? I’m not actually sure he does, I think he can do it on his own.
Like I said, there’s a supreme confidence and an underlying belief in what he’s capable of, but there’s no arrogance about it. Keely reminds me a bit of Cathy Freeman in that she just does what she loves and she’s just good at it.
How significant is it to him that he broke the indoor world record? It will be a weight off his shoulders, considering he’s never shied away from declaring how much he wants it, and the fact that it’s set on his birthday has been talked about many times.
Always seemed destined to be his own and the plan was for him to break it in last year’s Keely Klassic until injury dictated otherwise. It certainly never seemed like it would be in doubt for Lievin. Let’s not forget that he almost took a second off the record, deconstructed it, and you can tell he fully expected to do it.
It was another honor to add to the growing list and hopefully he can maintain that form and become a world indoor champion as well. It’s remarkable to think that due to injury, he hasn’t even competed in the World Indoor Championships before. Now that’s one medal missing from his collection and he deserves fate to smile on him for this one.
It will help that these championships are held in Torun. It’s a venue that will bring back happy memories for Keeley, given he won the European title, the first of his senior career, in 2021. It’s incredible to consider all that has happened since then and all that has been achieved. He knows what he’s made of out there and he’s a very clear favorite to take the gold, but I think the biggest difference on this occasion is likely to be the timing of his victory. Five years ago, he won in 2:03.88, and it’s hard to imagine history repeating itself with that score. With a gold medal on the line, I expect him to be around six seconds faster.
I just hope so much that he can stay in shape, but don’t forget he just turned 24 and is still learning all the time with Trevor and Jenny. There is a developing maturity in his running and I think last year’s injury problems will teach them all a lot.
Those challenges also remind you that if you’re in shape, you just go for it.
I think the new 800m rule where the break point is moved back 100m to reduce the risk of early trips and falls will also make quite a difference. It’s a good rule of thumb, Keely has already talked about how much he likes it, and it should make it nice and simple for him so he can run his race the way he wants.
He has the talent and ability to dictate how the finals go, but those decisions will be dictated by how he feels. When you go and you’re really ready to go, you know it right away. As soon as you hit the warm-up track and turn around feeling bouncy, you know you’re in for a good day.
You think about the consistency and the work that got you to that point, and then if you give up a good performance, it’s like; “This is what it’s all about.” It’s incredibly satisfying. Note that it won’t take long for your mind to change to: “Okay, I have to make sure I can keep this.”
You are never satisfied with it. As we know, consistency breeds good results and good results breed confidence. Let’s see if Keely can deliver the goods and another amazing result, once again.
