‘Delusional’ Keely Hodgkinson returns in style: 1:54.74 world lead in Silesia 800m
By Jonathan Gault
(Most of this article, with the exception of the results and interviews, was included in our article: 8 Thoughts on Silesia Diamond League 2025.)
There are two ways to make a comeback. One is to ease your way in and build up gradually. The other is to hold off until you feel you are back to your best, then come out firing. It’s pretty clear which option Olympic champion Keely Hodgkinson chose after she ran a world-leading 1:54.74 to win the women’s 800 on Saturday in her first race in 376 days at the Silesia Diamond League meet in Poland.
(Diamond League AG for Diamond League AG)
Given Hodgkinson has had multiple setbacks with her hamstring injury this year (remember, she had initially planned on coming back for an indoor race in February), there was plenty of speculation as to how ready she would be with the World Championships just four weeks away. But on the world feed, commentator Tim Hutchings said that Hodgkinson had been working out in spikes for six weeks and that her coach Trevor Painter told him he thought she was in close to world record shape (1:53.28).
Hodgkinson looked incredible today. She got to the lead immediately and showed no fear in going through 400 in an aggressive 56.7. Then Hodgkinson blew apart the field on the second lap, closing well with a 29.3 final 200m to win in 1:54.74 – just .13 off her pb and almost two seconds in front of runner-up Lilian Odira of Kenya, who PR’d by almost two seconds to run 1:56.52. That margin shows you just how far ahead of the rest of the world Hodgkinson is right now, because Odira’s time is the second-fastest by a woman in 2025. Hodgkinson is now the clear favorite for Worlds.
Keely: ‘sometimes you need to be a bit delusional’
After the race, Hodgkinson admitted she wasn’t sure if she’d even make it back this season:
“There was a period of time where I didn’t know if I would be able to make it back for this season,” she said. “So now that we have, I just want to enjoy everything. I don’t want to waste an opportunity. I’m just happy to be back.”
She explained her approach to opening with such an aggressive run:
“I wanted to open when I was ready, not when everyone thinks I should open… Some people may have thought I was a bit delusional to go that fast, but sometimes you need to be a bit delusional. I don’t have five races before Worlds — I’ve got two. So it was about making the most of the opportunity.”
The times were very fast behind Hodgkinson. In addition to Odira, Botswana’s Oratile Nowe took almost a second off her pb to run 1:56.76 (#5 in the world this year), American Raevyn Rogers ran her best race of the year to take 4th in 1:57.52, and 20-year-old Claudia Hollingsworth ran an Australian record of 1:57.67 for 5th – just .03 ahead of fellow Aussie Abbey Caldwell.
Looking ahead, Hodgkinson said she’ll race again on Wednesday before turning her focus fully to Tokyo:
“Lausanne on Wednesday will probably be a bit of a different challenge and then I’ll be heading off to Tokyo. Just excited to build and see how fast we can go.”
| Place | Athlete | Country | Time | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Keely Hodgkinson | GBR | 1:54.74 | MR, WL |
| 2 | Lilian Odira | KEN | 1:56.52 | PB |
| 3 | Oratile Nowe | BOT | 1:56.76 | NR |
| 4 | Raevyn Rogers | USA | 1:57.52 | SB |
| 5 | Claudia Hollingsworth | AUS | 1:57.67 | AR |
| 6 | Abbey Caldwell | AUS | 1:57.70 | PB |
| 7 | Clara Liberman | FRA | 1:58.82 | PB |
| 8 | Angelika Sarna | POL | 1:59.08 | PB |
| 9 | Margarita Koczanowa | POL | 1:59.90 | PB |
| 10 | Catriona Bisset | AUS | 2:00.64 | SB |
| 11 | Gabriela Gajanová | SVK | 2:01.17 | |
| 12 | Anna Wielgosz | POL | 2:01.60 | |
| DNF | Lisanne de Witte | NED | — | DNF |
It was hard not to think of Athing Mu-Nikolayev while watching the 800
Athing Mu-Nikolayev and Keely Hodgkinson have a lot in common. They are both 23 years old, both Olympic champions, and both have 1:54 personal bests. And they were both making comebacks in 2025 – Mu-Nikolayev from a torn hamstring and devastating fall at last year’s Olympic Trials, Hodgkinson from her own hamstring injury. Mu-Nikolayev has been healthy all season yet her season’s best is just 1:59.79 and she could not even make the final at USAs. Hodgkinson, meanwhile, returned as good as ever and is once again the favorite for Worlds.
Both are A+ talents, but while Hodgkinson trains under one of the world’s best middle-distance coaches in one of the world’s best middle-distance groups, Mu-Nikolayev trains largely alone under a sprint coach, Bobby Kersee. One has to wonder how each woman’s comeback would have gone if their training setups were reversed.
Post-race interview with Keely
- Silesia Diamond League Hub
- Discussion: Keely Hodgkinson WOW! Almost PRs – 1:54.75 in her season opener FTW in Silesia!!
- More for Silesia: Post-Race Interviews
- 8 Thoughts on Silesia Diamond League 2025: Kipyegon runs 8:07, Thompson > Lyles (for now), Nuguse DL win #4
LetsRun.com Video Recap of Silesia
Watch our full post-meet breakdown on YouTube:
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