Olympic, World, European and Commonwealth medallist, Keely Hodgkinson, will compete at the London Stadium for the first time when she lines up in the 800m at the London Athletics Meet on Saturday, July, 20.
Aside from the disappointment of having to withdraw due to illness on the day of last year’s race, the 22-year-old Great British national record holder - crowned European champion in August 2022 - had an otherwise exceptional summer. Following an early season world lead and national record (at the time) at the Meeting de Paris Diamond League event in June (1:55.77), she retained her UK Athletics Championships 800m title in Manchester with a stadium record of 1:58.26.
Then, in a bid to ‘gain a bit of race practice at 400m’, she travelled to the European Under-23 Championships in Finland where she won an impressive bronze medal in a lifetime best of 51.76. In August she finished runner-up over 800m at the World Athletics Championships in Budapest before improving her own national record with a 1:55.19 PB at the Prefontaine Classic in Eugene in September.
“Ever since I was a little girl I’ve dreamt of racing in the ‘Olympic’ stadium. I was so disappointed to miss out on competing in London last year after I fell ill in warm up, but that makes this year extra special,” said the 2023 Wanda Diamond League champion.
“As an athlete one of the hardest things to do is to say ‘no’ or to pass up an opportunity. For me, I always want to push on. This year I chose not to do an indoor season and instead had a longer period of training out in South Africa over the winter.
“That was a tough decision for me, but it was about laying the foundations to perform at my best this summer. The goal is Paris and everything I do between now and then, including lining up at the London Athletics Meet, is focused on winning Olympic gold.”
The London Athletics Meet - which will see the return of the world’s best athletes following a record-breaking sell-out in 2023 - is the tenth meeting of the 2024 Wanda Diamond League series. It is the UK’s biggest one-day athletics event and takes place six days before the Olympic Games Opening Ceremony, making it the perfect prelude to Paris.
The Wanda Diamond League series comprises 15 meetings in total across four different continents and started with Xiamen (China) on 20 April. It concludes with a single final across two days in Brussels (13-14 September). Each of the 14 series meetings will be broadcast globally in a live two-hour programme.
