Keely Hodgkinson breaks long-standing indoor 800m world record with 1:54.87 in Liévin

Keely Hodgkinson has broken the long-standing women's indoor 800m world record, stopping the clock at 1: 54. 87 in Liévin, France. The Olympic champion's run took almost a full second off the 2002 mark and represents a decisive statement after a season disrupted by serious hamstring injuries.

Keely Hodgkinson's world record run — what happened in Liévin

The record Hodgkinson surpassed had stood since 3 March 2002 and was 1: 55. 82. Hodgkinson moved ahead of the green wavelights on the inside of the track early, hitting a 55. 56 split at 400m after a planned pace that had been set to reach halfway in around 55. 8 seconds. From that point she strode clear and maintained the tempo to the line, finishing in 1: 54. 87.

The performance came five days after Hodgkinson set a new British 800m mark at the national indoor championships with a time of 1: 56. 33, underlining how rapidly her indoor form accelerated in the space of a week. The run also follows earlier indoor success in her career, including a rarely contested 600m record she set in a previous season.

Those who watched saw a sequence that combined tactical pacing and a front-running move that never left Hodgkinson in doubt about the record becoming reachable on a fast Liévin surface.

Context: recovery, ambition and the road ahead for Hodgkinson

Hodgkinson's preparation has included a period of rehabilitation from two hamstring tears that curtailed ambitions the previous season, when an eponymous event she had planned to target was disrupted. During that recovery she developed strength and power in the gym, changes that her training group noted as significant to her renewed form.

The world record run places Hodgkinson among a small group of British athletes who currently hold world records in championship events. It also follows a season-opening clocking of 1: 56. 33 at the UK Indoor Championships, reinforcing that the Liévin performance was an extension of a form surge rather than an isolated peak.

Immediate implications and scheduled targets after Liévin

• New landmark time: 1: 54. 87 for the indoor 800m, displacing the 1: 55. 82 mark that had stood since 2002.
• Recent buildup: 1: 56. 33 at the UK Indoor Championships, five days before the Liévin record.
• Next scheduled races: Hodgkinson is set to race over 400m in Glasgow on March 1 as part of the build-up to the World Indoor Championships in Poland.

Hodgkinson framed the Liévin outing as not solely about the record but about exploring how fast the event can be run at this point in the indoor season. That mindset — combining measured pacing, clear mid-race splits and decisive front-running — seems to have delivered the intended result.

What this means for the 800m landscape

The new world record reshapes the benchmarks for the indoor 800m and raises expectations for the championship season ahead. Hodgkinson's run dethroned an enduring mark and came in the company of established rivals, confirming that the event's competitive standard is rising. With a 400m race scheduled next and the World Indoor Championships on the horizon, Hodgkinson's immediate focus appears to be consolidating this form and translating it into championship success.

Details from Liévin underline that the record was the outcome of deliberate pacing, rapid early splits and a return to peak conditioning after injury-enforced setbacks. While the wider repercussions for major championship lineups will play out in the weeks ahead, the headline is clear: Keely Hodgkinson has taken the indoor 800m into a new era with a landmark 1: 54. 87 run.