Hodgkinson targets third straight European 800m crown in Birmingham

Keely Hodgkinson, 24, said on 9 August 2026 she will seek a third consecutive European 800m title at the European Athletics Championships in Birmingham and aims to prove she remains the number one after a "tricky" outdoor season. She will face world-class rivals including Audrey Werro and Femke Broeders-Bol in a race billed as one of the championships' centrepieces.

Hodgkinson's 2026 campaign has featured major milestones: she broke the long-standing indoor 800m world record, won her first world title and improved her British outdoor record. At the Stockholm Diamond League she finished second to Audrey Werro while setting that British mark, with Werro, 22, running the fastest time since the outdoor world record was set 43 years ago. The Swiss has gone even faster since Stockholm, increasing the level of competition Hodgkinson will meet in Birmingham.

The Briton said a muscle "twinge" forced her to withdraw from the 400m final at the British Championships in June, and she took second to world champion Lilian Odira in Eugene while competing with her knees heavily bandaged after a nasty fall in training. Femke Broeders-Bol, described in the coverage as the Dutch two-time world 400m hurdles champion who has chosen to switch events this season, is among the rivals adding depth to the field.

Hodgkinson said: "I feel in a good place, obviously there was a tough patch in June and July, but I'm happy, I'm excited to compete and I just think it'll bring out the best of me." On her previous meeting with Werro she added: "I think people [are] trying to make me feel like it was a failure and it really wasn't. It was a British record, my fastest time ever, and I'm going to remind myself of that because I'm proud of that. I had a tricky few weeks but, honestly, I just think it's really good that Audrey has come on really well and Femke is running well. It's going to be a really good race. Let's see what happens."

Hodgkinson returned to winning ways by beating Broeders-Bol at the London Diamond League last month and has since fine-tuned her preparations in Portugal with her team. She said feeding off the energy of a home crowd in Birmingham would be important and described a gold medal on British soil as "incredibly special" and saying it would "mean just as much to me as winning [Olympic gold] in Paris".

A podium finish at the championships would be Hodgkinson's 12th international medal in six seasons, while victory would amount to her fifth European title overall since her first in 2021. She said: "It's really special. Winning is very important to me this year because it'd be my fifth European title indoors and out, and that is five years of work. That is five years turning up to every championships and winning. It's really hard to stay that consistent."

Werro improved to one minute 53.80 seconds in June, a personal best more than half a second quicker than Hodgkinson's 1:54.33, while Broeders-Bol recorded 1:55.60 behind the Swiss athlete's second sub-1:54 clocking in Paris. Hodgkinson retains greater championship experience compared to Werro, who won her first senior international medal by taking world indoor silver behind Hodgkinson in March. On tactics she said: "We've spoken about it a little bit. Ultimately I'll just focus on what I can do best and control my race. I don't know what anyone else is going to do, but I think it is going to be the race of the championship. It's going to be really fun."

Hodgkinson will contest the women's 800m on Friday night at the European Athletics Championships in Birmingham, a race the coverage describes as the must-watch event of the championships.