'1:53 is possible,’ - Keely Hodgkinson dreaming big after setting new world record
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Reading Time: 3min | Sat. 21.02.26. | 15:02
On Thursday, 19 February, the 23-year-old Briton stormed to victory in 1:54.87, slicing almost a full second off the previous mark of 1:55.82 set by Slovenia’s Jolanda Ceplak
Olympic champion Keely Hodgkinson has declared that 1:53 is possible after smashing the long-standing women’s indoor 800m world record in Liévin, France.
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On Thursday, 19 February, the 23-year-old Briton stormed to victory in 1:54.87, slicing almost a full second off the previous mark of 1:55.82 set by Slovenia’s Jolanda Ceplak on March 3, 2002, the very day Hodgkinson was born nearly 24 years ago.
Just 12 days shy of her birthday and another anniversary of Ceplak’s record, Hodgkinson produced a performance that felt written in the stars. She finally took down the mark she had long believed was destined to fall.
The race unfolded with precision, with wavelights guiding the tempo and pacemaker Anna Gryc driving the early laps. Hodgkinson executed an aggressive race plan flawlessly.
She blasted through 200m in 26.47 seconds and hit 400m in 55.56. By 600m, clocked at 1:25.06, she was running alone, powering down the final straight to stop the clock at 1:54.87 on the notoriously quick Liévin track.
The world record had appeared vulnerable just days earlier when Hodgkinson opened her season with a 1:56.33 run in Birmingham. She made no secret of her intention to attack Ceplak’s mark in France and delivered emphatically.
WATCH: Keely Hodgkinson 🇬🇧 breaks the 800m World Record in Lievin, running 1:54.87!!!🤯🤯
— the truth is real (@6truthfeel) February 19, 2026
The previous record of 1:55.82 was set on the exact day Keely was born. pic.twitter.com/OSZLjJetmC
Her latest feat sees her join Jonathan Edwards as the only British athlete currently holding a world record in a championship event.
The achievement is especially sweet given the setbacks of the past year. Hodgkinson had been primed to target the record at her Keely Klassic event in February last season before the first of two serious hamstring injuries derailed her campaign.
After what she described as the desperate lows of her first year as reigning Olympic champion, Hodgkinson has returned stronger.
“I feel like this season is going to be a delayed but never denied type moment,” she told The Inside Lane.
“I've had my healthiest winter in years. I'm really happy about that, and I'm just grateful to be able to move my body, push it, not have anything hold me back, and just do what I do best: run,” she continued.
Three years ago, she broke the rarely contested indoor 600m world record. Now, fully fit and firing, she believes even greater barriers can fall.
Hodgkinson has consistently hovered around the 1:54 territory and now feels ready to dip even deeper into uncharted waters.
“I think my aim for this year is just to see the boundaries that we can push,” she said. “I’ve said in the past couple of years, 1:53 is possible. I really think it is.
I think this would be a good year to try, as long as I stay healthy, get everything done and give it a good shot. I’ve been knocking on that 1:54 for a while, I think I’m due a 1:53,” she offered.
Her attention now shifts to the outright 800m world record of 1:53.28, set in 1983 by Jarmila Kratochvilova, one of the longest-standing records in athletics history.