Faith Kipyegon v Keely Hodgkinson over 800m

Keely Hodgkinson is the best 800 runner in the world right now, at least until we find out what kind of shape Athing Mu is in.

Faith isn't beating Keely at 800.

Faith’s lifetime 800 PR is 1:57.68 and that was almost 3 years ago. Keely wins easily.

1000 meters would be a much more interesting race between the two of them.

I agree Keely wins, but Faith is fitter than she was three years ago and can probably run 1:56 if she had Keely to chase

What are the chances that after the world championship Faith decides to take on Keely over an 800 or 1000?

If so, what meet would that most likely take place at?

sifan hassan ran 1:56 the year she ran 3:51.95. Laura Muir has run 1:56 (or 1:57?). I'd be surprised if Faith weren't capable of 1:55

Sifan Hassan ran 1:56.8 in worse shape than Faith is in now. There's no reason to think Faith couldn't run under 1:56

Almost certainly Faith. 3:49.11 maybe is the best women's track performance since FloJo in 88.

She definitely can run close to 1:55.0.

No chance.

No way Faith gets her right now. Keely opened at 1:55.77. She's probably in sub 1:55 shape in the right race and she's always fast when it counts. Mu is the only one with a chance if she's even in shape these days.

DL meets in the past have held disciplines that are not traditional - 150, 300, 500, 600, 1000, etc. There are four DL meets after the WC this season but none of them will contest non-traditional events. The schedule below shows what events are being held at each meet.

The Continental Tour will have a women’s 1000 held at the August 4 in Bern, Switzerland meeting, prior to the WC. CT scheduled with disciplines is also below.

What's Faith's 400m PB ?

If Faith trained for the 800 for 3 months, she would easily take Keely. Keely's strength lies in her determination. She is not the same talent level as Mu or Faith. Those two can do things without the same determination. Mu beat Keely last year off the couch while Keely was training and racing her pretty little azz off. Faith would have to work a little harder to train for an off event but her talent is next level and she would beat Keely easily.

Upon considering this more I do believe that Faith can get under 1:56 or be close to it but I still don’t believe she can beat Hodgkinson at the 800. Hodgkinson had a phenomenal 800 season opener at the Paris DL meet and she really wasn’t pushed at all. She had great form and still looked like she had a lot give.

Someone here started a thread about her being in 1:52ish shape and that is just crazy talk. I do believe, though, she can go low 1:55 now and be 1:54mid by the end of the season.

I’ll stand by what I said in that the 1000 would be a more interesting race between the two of them. I believe that Faith wins at 1000 but it’s close.

In looking at Keely’s WA profile, she shows no recent events over 800. She does have some 1500s from 204 to 2017 when she was between 12 & 15 years old. We really have no indication of how she would run a 1500 now.

worldathletics.org

Keely HODGKINSON | Profile | World Athletics

Link:worldathletics.org/athletes/great-brit...

This is patently false. Just because Mu wasn’t racing doesn’t mean that she wasn’t training. Syd doesn’t race much. Do you think she doesn’t train?

I’m not implying that Hodgkinson has the same talent as Mu. The gap has narrowed, though. And if Mu never races, how are we ever going to find out?

Her WA profile doesn’t show a 400 time.

Lol people say "she opened with" as if she doesn't know how to run an 800.

Would you say it's typical for your first 800m of the season to also be the fastest?

^^^^

This.

Kipyegon certainly can beat Laura Muir at 800 who is a strength based 1500 runner with good speed. Faith has more strength than Muir who has a 1:56 for reference. Neither train for 800 so it's certainly more than possible and is actually likely.

A better question might be: Can Laure Muir run faster than Keely Hodgkinson?? Like Faith, if they trained for it, they would beat Keely. ....If Keely was cranking out sub-51 400s then it would be different but at 52.xx PR for 400, she is clearly a strength based 800 runner. Well if that's the case, Kipyegon and Muir both have more strength than Hodgkinson. It may even be the case that Muir and Kipyegon are faster over 400 meters too.