ATHLETICS: Britain's Hodgkinson smashes world indoor 800m record in Lievin

Keely Hodgkinson on Thursday shattered the women’s world indoor 800 meters record, nearly 24 years after Slovenia’s Jolanda Ceplak set it on the day Britain’s Olympic champion was born.

Hodgkinson clocked 1:54.87 at the World Athletics Indoor Tour Gold meeting in Liévin, France, breaking Ceplak’s mark of 1:55.82 set on March 3, 2002, by 0.95 seconds.

“Thank you for the amazing crowd,” Hodgkinson said, according to the World Athletics website. “I could hear you all the way around.”

The Briton has enjoyed a strong start to the season, running 1:56.33 at the UK Indoor Championships last weekend.

Hodgkinson dominated the race from the start, reaching 200m in 26.47 seconds and 400m in 55.56 seconds. By the 600m mark, crossed in 1:25.06, the 23-year-old had already pulled well ahead of the competition.

Switzerland’s Audrey Werro finished a distant second as Hodgkinson powered away to set the record.

Hodgkinson previously won an Olympic silver medal in Tokyo 2021 before claiming gold at the Paris 2024 Games.

-Reporting by Angelica Medina in Mexico City/Reuters