Keely Hodgkinson says July canal fall ended her bid to chase 800m world record
Keely Hodgkinson said a fall during a cooldown run along a canal in July ended her attempt to chase the 800m world record this summer, and she will run her final race of the season at the Athlos meeting in London on Friday.
Hodgkinson returned last week from a hamstring tear sustained at the European Championships in August, an injury her team has likened to whiplash. She says the problem's root cause was a heavy trip on a metal grill while jogging by a canal; the fall was sudden, she could not get her hands down in time and was left with bloody knees and a jarred back. Hodgkinson now believes the July incident contributed to the hamstring issue she suffered at the Europeans.
She revealed she felt a twinge about 10 minutes before the European Championships final and subsequently tore her hamstring during that race. “In the Europeans I was in the best shape ever, but sometimes it doesn’t always translate,” she said. “When I fell over, that kind of messed me up way more than I thought it did. And I think that’s what’s contributed to my hamstring, because I couldn’t really use my quad for a while.”
Hodgkinson outlined an unusual anatomical detail that affected how the injury presented. “My body’s quite literally built different,” she said. “So where everyone has one tendon, mine split, so I have two. We found it last year on an MRI scan after I tore it. “We’re trying to figure out if it’s a strength or a weakness. So when one of them tore, I still had another one. It meant that I didn’t feel the injury until later on when it got a bit tight. I was like: ‘Oh, something’s not quite right,’ but it didn’t affect me during the race. “The pro is it means that when one is down, I can still run on the one that works. But maybe it’s slightly weaker than the one that’s attached. But it’s a weird one: you can still run and I haven’t missed any training the last three weeks. I’ve just had to alter my approach.”
Despite limited speed work while managing the hamstring, Hodgkinson said she chose to race at the Ultimate Championships in Budapest and at Athlos to test herself under imperfect conditions. “What if it happened in an Olympic year? I’m not saying it will and, touch wood, it doesn’t. But I know that I can do this, regardless of if stuff goes right or wrong, and I can still perform with the best in the world. That’s given me confidence,” she said.
Hodgkinson can point to a strong season prior to the injury: she broke the indoor world record in February, won the world indoor title in March and set a personal best outdoors in June. The fall has drawn an historical parallel in coverage with Steve Ovett, who after breaking the world mile record in August 1981 tripped and fell through metal railings four months later, badly injuring his knee and severely impacting his season the following year.
Athlos is an all-female meeting that lists Hodgkinson among its headline acts alongside Gabby Thomas and Sha’Carri Richardson, and organisers have promoted a more entertainment-focused atmosphere. Athlos’ acting president, Kayla Green, said the event will feature a red carpet, multiple celebrities and DJ Trauma on the decks. “Fans are going to walk away and say the competition and athleticism on the track was second to none, but the experience itself was something that made them really have a great time,” she said. “It will also be epic to watch on TV.”
Hodgkinson’s next confirmed engagement is the Athlos meeting in London on Friday, her final race of the season following her return from the hamstring tear sustained at the European Championships in August.