LIÉVIN, France — Meeting organizers confirmed on Friday that Olympic 800m champion Keely Hodgkinson will return to indoor competition at the Meeting Hauts-de-France Pas-de-Calais on February 19, marking her first indoor race in three years.
The 23-year-old British runner last competed indoors at the Istanbul 2023 European Athletics Indoor Championships, where she successfully defended her 800m title. Hodgkinson missed most of the 2025 season due to hamstring injuries that kept her off the track until August.
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Despite the injury-shortened year, Hodgkinson salvaged her summer campaign by claiming bronze at the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo. The confirmation of her appearance in Liévin suggests the double European champion has returned to full fitness and overcome the hamstring issues that plagued her previous season.
Hodgkinson has competed twice before at the World Athletics Indoor Tour Gold meeting in Liévin. She won the 800m in 2023 with a time of 1:57.71, just 10 days before improving her personal best in Birmingham. In her first appearance at the venue in 2022, she finished fourth in 2:01.71 at 18 years old.
The Briton holds the national record outdoors at 1:54.61, set in 2024, and the indoor mark of 1:57.18 from 2023. She won Olympic gold in Paris in 2024 and claimed silver at the Tokyo 2021 Games.
Hodgkinson has collected two world championship silver medals in 2022 and 2023, along with European outdoor titles in 2022 and 2024. She also won European indoor championships in 2021 and 2023 before her three-year break from indoor competition.
The February 19 meeting is part of the World Athletics Indoor Tour Gold series and will be streamed live on the World Athletics YouTube channel. The Meeting Hauts-de-France Pas-de-Calais is also the penultimate meeting 2026 World Athletics Indoor Tour Gold calendar.
