Olympic champion Keely Hodgkinson made a triumphant return to action on Saturday as she ran a world-leading time in her first 800m since winning gold at the Paris Games last year.
The 23-year-old Briton showed no sign of the lingering hamstring problems that had sidelined her for months as she clocked a meet record of 1min 54.74sec in hot and humid conditions in the Polish city of Chorzow.
“That was so much fun. The track here is very fast,” said Hodgkinson, who had described her comeback race at the Silesia Diamond League meet as a vital “stepping stone” to the September 13-21 world championships in Tokyo.
“It’s amazing, I really wanted to have this opportunity, I don’t have much time to get ready for the worlds, so I have to put something down,” she added.
Dutch pacemaker Lisanne de Witte set the rhythm for what organisers had hoped would be a 1:54.50 race and Hodgkinson led the chasing pack through 400m in 56.09sec.
Chased by Kenya’s Liliane Odira, the Briton looked comfortable as she pulled away solo for the final 300 metres, pushing herself down the home straight for a fine win.
The victory marks the end of a long road back from injury for Hodgkinson.
She was forced to withdraw from an event in February that bore her name – the Keely Klassic, at which she had intended to make a tilt at the long-standing world indoor 800m world record.
Hodgkinson then pulled out of last month’s Diamond League meet in London.
“I wanted to open my season today, I was ready and it worked,” beamed Hodgkinson.
“I was just happy to step on the track after more than a year. As I got closer to the race I got more and more relaxed. I enjoyed the feeling of the race.
“I planned to run a fast time because I do not have five races anymore before Tokyo, I only have today and the meeting in Lausanne. So it had to be fast and I am happy that it worked.”
She is expected to go head-to-head with training partner Georgia Hunter Bell, the Olympic 1500m bronze medallist, over 800m at the Lausanne Diamond League next week.
