Hodgkinson Eyes 800m World Record
Olympic champion Keely Hodgkinson says she feels "closer than ever" to breaking athletics' longest-standing world record—the women's outdoor 800m mark. Fresh off her recent indoor world record, the British runner described her current form as the best of her career. The outdoor 800m record has stood longer than any other mark in track and field.
- The outdoor 800m world record was set by Jarmila Kratochvílová of Czechoslovakia on July 26, 1983, with a time of 1:53.28. This is the longest-standing individual world record in all of athletics. - Kratochvílová, a 400m specialist at the time, was originally scheduled to run the 200m at the meet in Munich but switched to the 800m at the last minute due to leg cramps. Just weeks later, she won gold in both the 800m and the 400m at the inaugural World Championships. - Hodgkinson's personal best for the outdoor 800m is 1:54.61, which she ran in July 2024. This is the sixth-fastest time ever recorded by a woman. - The indoor 800m world record Hodgkinson recently broke was 1:54.87. This surpassed the previous record of 1:55.82, which had stood for 24 years. - The previous indoor record was set by Slovenia's Jolanda Čeplak on the day Hodgkinson was born, March 3, 2002. Čeplak later received a two-year suspension after testing positive for the performance-enhancing drug EPO. - Only one other female athlete, Kenya's Pamela Jelimo in 2008, has officially run within a second of Kratochvílová's outdoor record since it was set. - Following her indoor record, Hodgkinson is expected to compete at the 2026 World Indoor Championships in Toruń, Poland. Future opportunities for an outdoor record attempt include the 2027 World Athletics Championships in Beijing.
