After an injury-plagued first season as Olympic champion, 2026 is about one thing for Keely Hodgkinson: “domination”.
The 24-year-old captured her first world indoor title in stunning fashion, taking gold in the 800m in a championship record time on a historic night for Great Britain in Poland on Sunday.
That success came a month after she broke the old women’s indoor 800m world record, set by Slovenia’s Jolanda Ceplak on the day the Briton was born in 2002.
The first of two serious hamstring injuries prevented her from reaching that mark 12 months ago, and she was forced to wait 376 days to compete again after her highlight at Paris 2024.
But Hodgkinson, dubbed ‘Keely 2.0’ within her training group following her impressive rebuild in the gym, is already making up for lost time.
“My word this year has been domination,” Hodgkinson told BBC Sport.
“When I’m in the best shape of my life, why leave it to chance?
“If you want to beat me, I will make you work hard to achieve it.”
Hodgkinson made further history by becoming Great Britain’s first women’s 800m world champion, indoor or outdoor, crossing the finish line more than a second ahead of her rivals in one minute and 55.30 seconds.
That win capped 28 minutes of success after golds for training partner Georgia Hunter Bell and pole vaulter Molly Caudery on a sensational Sunday for the British team.
Josh Kerr’s 3,000m triumph on Saturday ensured the British team’s most successful World Indoor Championships of all time, surpassing the three gold medals won in 1999.
Hodgkinson reappeared on the track less than an hour after her gold to join the bid for a women’s 4x400m relay medal at the end of the final day of action in Torun.
Despite his best efforts, and running the fastest leg of any athlete in the event with a time of 50.10 seconds, he was unable to overcome a substantial deficit in his anchor leg.