Keely Hodgkinson says 800m World bronze ‘incredible’ after injury-plagued year

Keely Hodgkinson said she will find peace with her bronze medal after surviving a “s**tshow” of a year to finish third in the 800m final on the last night of the World Championships in Tokyo.

The 23-year-old was hoping to add a maiden world title to the Olympic gold she won in Paris last summer, but was pipped to the line by training mate Georgia Hunter Bell, who dipped to claim silver by one one hundredth of a second in 1:54.90.

Hodgkinson battled back from a 376-day injury layoff to set a world-lead in Silesia in mid-August, but the heats, semi-final and final in Tokyo were just her third, fourth and fifth races of the year all season.

“It’s been a s**t show. I mean an an absolute s**t show,” admitted Hodgkinson, when reminded of her long spell on the sidelines.

“I think when you look at some of the greats in all sports there’s years where they haven’t done as well, they’ve missed podiums, they’ve missed a complete year, they’ve missed the championships, and somehow I’ve managed to stay on that trajectory, which I think is incredible.

“At the end of my career, I think people remember what you’ve won, not what you’ve lost, and this will just go down as part of my journey, I think, and on reflection I’ll be quite happy.”

Hodgkinson’s time was still her third-fastest ever at 800m, while Hunter Bell set a new personal best.

The British duo were in gold and silver medal position – led by Hodgkinson – on the home straight until Kenyan Lilian Odira surged past them both to take gold in a championship record 1:54.62, leaving the British runners to battle each other for second.

Hodgkinson and Hunter-Bell had to wait before screens inside the stadium showed the latter had snatched second by the finest of margins.

Hodgkinson re-aggravated a knee injury following her triumph in Paris, then, just as she was supposed to headline her own event in February – the inaugural Keely Klassic in Birmingham – had to pull out with a torn hamstring.

She was preparing to make her season debut at the Stockholm Diamond League in mid-June but injured the other hamstring – having previously never hurt either – an issue her body strongly signalled to her in the form of back pain whilst in the car to Windsor Castle for her MBE ceremony in May.

Missing the London Diamond League – and a chance to celebrate her Olympic triumph in front of fans at home – was the biggest heartbreak of all, before she ran a world-leading one minute, 54.74 seconds in Poland, and answered more questions about her endurance four days later when she set a meeting record 1:55.69 under difficult conditions in Lausanne.

But she still arrived in Japan with just the Silesia and Lausanne Diamond Leagues under her belt.

“I definitely do feel a little bit under-ran,” she said after Sunday’s final. “I’m not someone that needs loads of races, but two probably isn’t enough, especially after so long.

“I felt really bad in the semis, my stomach was playing up a little bit, but I did my best to turn that around. I think I did a really good job.”

Hodgkinson said she would reflect on the race, but added: “Look at my legs in the last five metres. I gave it everything. There wasn’t really much more I could do.”

Hunter Bell added another remarkable achievement to her already-improbable CV. The 31-year-old was once a promising junior athlete, who walked away from the track in 2017 after suffering a series of injuries while at college in the United States.

She returned to running first simply as a way of getting out of the house during the coronavirus pandemic, eventually getting back in contact with her former coach Trevor Painter to see if he would take her back on.

“I did think for a moment I was going to win it,” said Hunter Bell, whose time moved her into ninth on the women’s 800m all-time list.

“That’s racing,” she replied, when reminded of the moment she dipped to beat Hodgkinson at the line.

Hunter Bell was still “thrilled” with her result, backing herself to be “good at rising to the occasion at world championships”.

Hunter Bell took a sabbatical from a full-time job in cybersecurity to debut in Paris, only becoming a full-time athlete after claiming bronze at those Games last summer – something she admits has been “harder mentally” as “being the underdog last year was just so much fun”.

Asked if she had any regrets about initially walking away from sport, she said: “If I look at what Keely has achieved at 23, I think we were running very similar times when we were like 11, 12, 13.

“If I went and did what Keely did in my young 20s, then maybe Trevor would be able to do what he did with her with me.

“At the same time, I wouldn’t have met my husband, I wouldn’t have experienced what I’ve experienced in life. I just think I’m on my own path. I’m where I want to be – at world championships, running my fastest-ever times.”