Olympic 800m champion set her national record of 1:54.61 in the British capital last year
Keely Hodgkinson has withdrawn from the London Diamond League and delayed her season opener by a few more weeks to ensure she is fully race-ready.
The 23-year-old was meant to start her outdoor season at last month’s Stockholm Diamond League but had to pull out after suffering a minor setback in her recovery from a hamstring injury.
The Olympic 800m champion sustained that injury just before her own event, the Keely Klassic, back in February and hasn’t raced since she secured gold at the Games last summer.
Hodgkinson is now back in full training and is progressing rapidly, with the goal of topping the 800m podium at the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo (September 13-21).
At last year’s London Diamond League, Hodgkinson set a British record of 1:54.61 to go sixth on the global 800m all-time list, finishing ahead of both Jemma Reekie (1:55.61) and Georgia Hunter Bell (1:56.28).
That mark was also the quickest time over 800m since Caster Semenya clocked 1:54.60 in Monaco in 2018.
Hodgkinson of course backed up her national record with an Olympic gold medal over two laps in Paris. Later in the year, she was crowned BBC Sports Personality of the Year and became the first person from athletics since Mo Farah in 2017 to claim the prize.
Two months ago, the Brit received an MBE – for services to athletics – from Prince William at Windsor Castle.
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