Olympic champion Keely Hodgkinson made a triumphant return to the track on Saturday at the Utilita Arena, Birmingham.
She smashed her own British indoor 800m record at the UK Athletics Indoor Championships in Birmingham.
The 23-year-old, from Atherton, stopped the clock at 1:56.33, setting a new national record.
The performance lopped nearly a second off her previous national best of 1:57.18.
The result moves her to third on the world indoor all-time list.
Hodgkinson finished an entire straight ahead of her nearest competitors.
It was her first competitive outing since the 2025 World Championships in Tokyo.
It followed a winter season she described as her “healthiest in years.”
Speaking shortly after the race to BBC Sport, Hodgkinson said: “I know I am in great shape at the moment.
“I’m grateful to run in front of a British crowd, it was a lot of fun.’’
The Leigh Harriers star admitted there were some nerves before the starting gun fired: “Obviously, it was my first race since last October.
“But I enjoy racing, especially because I missed a lot of it last year.
“I’m the healthiest I’ve been in a long time, so I wanted to make the most of it.”
Hodgkinson confirmed she will not contest the final on Sunday.
She will instead turn her attention to the world record in Liévin, France, next Thursday: “We planned Liévin six months ago, so that was always the focus.
“I’m happy to get a run out before next week.”
It signals that the Olympic “golden Girl” is back to her clinical best.
(Featured image credit: Erik van Leeuwen bron: Wikipedia GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.2).
