After launching her own track meet and generating buzz around her 800m world record attempt, Olympic 800m champion Keely Hodgkinson has announced her sudden withdrawal from the competition. A picture shared on Instagram Thursday revealed that a hamstring injury has forced her to sit on the sidelines, and the Keely Klassic, still set for Saturday in Birmingham, will no longer feature a highly anticipated performance by the British runner.
“I am so gutted and disappointed to be announcing this,” Hodgkinson wrote on Instagram. “After a great week of preparations for this weekend, yesterday I picked up a hamstring injury, which means I’ll have to sit this one out this weekend and not compete. I’m devastated to be missing the launch of the first Keely Klassic; [my team and I] worked so hard these last couple of months to put me in a perfect position to race, and I was so excited to perform in front of a home crowd.”
Hodgkinson and her team decided to withdraw from the competition after a scan revealed a serious injury–even “raising questions about her ability to compete again this winter,” according to another Instagram post.
“I was in the best shape of my life”
“I won’t lie–when I got the news this afternoon, I shed a tear,” the runner said. “I’ve worked so hard for this moment and was in the best shape of my life.” She recently returned from a rigorous three-week training camp in South Africa with M11 Track Club, and the Keely Klassic was set to mark her season opener and first race back from an injury that cut her 2024 season short.
The show must go on
Hodgkinson emphasized that the event will not be any less exciting for spectators and athletes; the 22-year-old will still be in attendance to cheer on teammates and engage with fans.
“This event was never just about me,” she wrote. “From the start, it was about bringing fresh energy to our sport, celebrating British talent, and connecting with the next generation of fans–and we look forward to still bringing that to life.” She acknowledged the disappointment of viewers who bought tickets for the meet in anticipation of her world record attempt.
Eugene, Oregon, USA
Photo: Kevin Morris
Despite doubts from her team about a swift recovery, Hodgkinson is reportedly set on continuing to chase her goal of competing at the World Indoor Championships in March.
The Keely Klassic was first revealed in December; right from the beginning, Hodgkinson’s attempt to break the 23-year-old indoor 800m world record was a key aspect of the meet’s promotional efforts. Her best time of 1:57.18 is more than a second off the record of 1:55.82, set by Slovenia’s Jolanda Čeplak in March 2002.
The event will be broadcast live on BBC Sport, BBC iPlayer and FloTrack beginning Saturday at 12:05 p.m. GMT (7:05 a.m. ET).
