Hodgkinson Smashes British Indoor Record
Team GB Olympic champion Keely Hodgkinson shattered the British national indoor record in the women's 800m, clocking 1:56.33 in the heats at the British Indoor Championships in Birmingham. Jeremiah Azu completed a surprise sprint double by winning both the 60m and 200m titles at the same meet.
- Keely Hodgkinson's new British indoor record of 1:56.33 bettered her own previous record of 1:57.18, which she set in 2023. This performance is the fastest women's indoor 800m time in almost 24 years and ranks her third on the world indoor all-time list. - The record was set in the heats of the UK Indoor Championships, and Hodgkinson will not compete in the final. Her focus is on the upcoming World Athletics Indoor Tour Gold meeting in Liévin, France, where she will be targeting the world indoor record of 1:55.82. - This race marked a strong start to the season for Hodgkinson, who had her healthiest winter of training in years after her 2025 season was delayed by injury. - Jeremiah Azu's sprint double was considered a surprise because elite athletes rarely compete in the 200m indoors, as it is not an event at international indoor championships. - Azu's victory in the 200m was achieved with a personal best time of 20.77 seconds. - He is the reigning world and European indoor champion in the 60m and will defend his world title at the upcoming World Athletics Indoor Championships. - Other notable winners at the championships included Dina Asher-Smith, who won the women's 60m with a championship record of 7.05 seconds, and Molly Caudery, the 2024 world indoor champion, who won the women's pole vault. - With Hodgkinson's withdrawal from the 800m final, Issy Boffey, who recently entered the all-time global top 10, went on to win the title.
