Hodgkinson Eyes 800m World Record
Olympic champion Keely Hodgkinson reports feeling "closer than ever" to breaking the women's 800m outdoor world record, one of athletics' longest-standing marks. Her surge in confidence and form suggests a world-record attempt could be imminent in the middle-distance event.
- The target record was set by Jarmila Kratochvílová of Czechoslovakia on July 26, 1983, with a time of 1:53.28. It is the longest-standing individual world record in all of athletics. - Hodgkinson's personal best outdoor time is 1:54.61, a British record that places her sixth on the all-time world list. - In a sign of her current form, Hodgkinson shattered the women's indoor 800m world record in Liévin, France, on February 19, 2026, with a time of 1:54.87. - The previous indoor record of 1:55.82 had stood for nearly 24 years, having been set by Slovenia's Jolanda Čeplak on March 3, 2002 — the exact day Hodgkinson was born. - Kratochvílová was a 400m specialist who reportedly only decided to run the 800m in Munich due to a leg cramp before her intended 200m race. - Only two other women, Pamela Jelimo of Kenya and Caster Semenya of South Africa, have run within a second of Kratochvílová's outdoor mark since it was set. - Hodgkinson is the reigning Olympic 800m champion, having won gold at the 2024 Paris Games. She also claimed silver at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and has won two silver medals at the World Championships. - Her coach has hinted that a potential world record attempt could be made at the London Diamond League meeting in the summer of 2026.
