Keely Hodgkinson says she is aiming for a new world record after breaking the British 800m mark at the UK Indoor Athletics Championships in Birmingham.
The 23-year-old, who won Olympic gold in 2024, clocked 1:56.33 in Saturday’s heats to beat her own national record by almost a second.
It was the fastest time in a women’s 800-meter indoor race in 24 years and the third-fastest ever.
Having announced beforehand that he would not compete in Sunday’s final because he has to race in France on Thursday, Hodgkinson described the race as “a personal challenge”.
The event in the Midlands counts towards athletes qualifying for the World Indoor Championships in Poland on March 20-22.
“I had to come to qualify for the World Cup and that’s why I was only doing one round,” he said.
“But it was a good test. It’s been three years since I ran indoors, so I knew I had to go out there and stay focused.”
“We didn’t set out to reach the world lead, but I started well and kept going. It was a nice surprise. It was a really strong day.”