British middle distance star Keely Hodgkinson will launch her defence of the women’s 800m Diamond Trophy on home soil at the Müller Birmingham Diamond League on Saturday 21 May.
The Olympic 800m silver medallist and British record holder is hoping to put her World Indoor Athletics experience behind her when she returns to Wanda Diamond League action at the Alexander Stadium.
The prodigious young talent, who turned 20 earlier this month, was favourite to take the world indoor gold in Belgrade after smashing the British indoor 800m record in February clocking 1:57.20, the fastest time indoors for 20 years but unfortunately had to withdraw due to a strain to her right quad muscle.
In a year stacked with competitive opportunities including the World and European Athletics Championships and potentially the Commonwealth Games, Hodgkinson – who ran 1:55.88 in Tokyo to break Dame Kelly Holmes’ long-standing national record – was unwilling to take an unnecessary risk. However she is now earmarking Birmingham as the ideal way to start her summer campaign:
“Last year was incredible from start to finish which I think made the decision to come out of the world indoors even harder,” says the 2021 European indoor and Wanda Diamond League champion. “I obviously went to Belgrade to win gold and I didn’t even make the start line, so I was gutted. I’ve never had to pull out a race before, but it’s about looking at the bigger picture and making sure the problem is fixed and doesn’t reoccur.
“I’ve still got a lot to learn as a professional athlete and that experience, which was pretty upsetting at the time, taught me a lot. I’m grateful to have such a brilliant team around me to support me and I’m already making good progress. I got back to running within about ten days, which was what we had hoped for, and I’m now totally focused on my return to full fitness and to winning medals at the big championships this summer. I’ve got high expectations, but I’m at my most comfortable on the track and I can’t wait to kick off my summer campaign in Birmingham.”