Could bizarre training accident scupper Hodgkinson’s world record attempt?

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Sky Sports’ Geraint Hughes shares the news that a fall in training has put Keely Hodgkinson’s aim of breaking the oldest world record in athletics in doubt.

To break any world record – yet alone the oldest world record in athletics – takes some serious planning and preparation.

It’s not any old race against other athletes, the pressure of the ticking clock is another all consuming factor.

Jarmila Kratochvilova – then running for Czechoslovakia – set a time at a race meeting in Munich of 1’53”.28 seconds. She set it in July 1983. It’s been unbeatable for 43 years. It is the oldest world record in athletics.

Keely Hodgkinson, though, has always thought she could beat that time.

Keely Hodgkinson won gold in the women’s 800 meters at World Athletics Indoor Championships in Torun (AP Photo/Petr David Josek)

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Sky Sports’ Geraint Hughes speaks to Team GB’s Keely Hodgkinson about her 800m world record attempt.

She’s done the horrible hard yards in winter training as all athletes do. She then broke the world record as she became world champion in the World Indoor 800m.

Then, as spring and summer approached, her coaches got her to work on her first 400m speed.

Could she be fast yet still have energy left for the final 400m? That was a big tick as she surpassed the marks and times she was after in training in Manchester. A world record attempt was very much on and the London Diamond League meeting was a good place to try.

But… and there is a but, things always don’t go to plan.

Keely Hodgkinson’s best 800m outdoor time, from 2024, is 1.33s seconds slower than the current world record (AP Photo/Petr David Josek)

“I was just jogging on a cool down and then I tripped over this thing and got into what I could describe as a metal mesh grate on the floor and it’s just taken some chunks [out of her knees] and caused a lot of swelling,” Hodgkinson told Sky Sports.

“It’s one of those accidents, but it’s fine now and I can run now, I’m pain free and I’m happy to be here and relaxed and healthy and all that.

“My knees are good, they’re OK now. Yeah it’s just been an unfortunate few weeks. I think it’s just life, you can’t plan for stuff happening sometimes; just one of those things.”

Hodgkinson explained further: “It was obviously not ideal and it was just very painful, but I actually haven’t missed any training because when I got some scans on the knees, there wasn’t any damage to the kneecap.

“It was just inflammation, pain, bruising, so the doctor was kind of like, how much pain can you handle, and it’s your choice.

“It’s a good old-fashioned cut on my knees, not very much I can do!”

Anning won the 400m after Hodgkinson’s withdrawal

Although not a serious injury, it is a setback and one that can affect those tiny one per cent gains elite athletes look for.

To run over a second faster than she has done before Hodgkinson was going to require everything to be perfect, and tripping over and smashing your knees up on a metal grate in Wigan wasn’t in the plan.

You could tell from her body language that she doesn’t quite know how fast she can run until she lines up on the start line. That’s not perfect.

“My approach for tomorrow is very much that I just want to have fun. I think the last couple of weeks have been quite tense and I just want to enjoy myself.

“This is what I do, I work really hard to do it, I’m in great shape and whatever will be, will be.”

Is beating the 800m world record still possible, I ask Hodgkinson? She gives me a steely look and big smile: “I’m not saying anything, I know what you’re trying to get out of me!

“Of course I still believe in myself, of course I do, but I’m not killing myself trying to chase things to everybody else’s timeline.

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Keely Hodgkinson speaks after winning 800m gold in a championship record time at the World Athletics Indoor Championships.

“That’s the one thing I think that you can get caught up in sometimes and it’s like I’ll do things when I want to do things, when I feel ready and I think most importantly, I want to win tomorrow.

“It’s been a couple of weeks that I haven’t won and that’s the main aim.”

While Hodgkinson’s attempt at the 800m world record might have to wait until the European Championships in Birmingham next month – which may turn into a showdown with Swiss runner Audrey Werro who has recorded the third and fourth fastest 800m times in the last month – Josh Kerr is very much on to break another very old world record: ‘The Mile’.

Josh Kerr will attempt to break ‘The Mile’ record

It is a record that isn’t run at Olympics or World Championships, yet it is a record that saw a major feat in human athleticism in 1954 when Roger Bannister broke the four-minute barrier for the mile.

It was said it would be impossible to do. Impossible, no, but still a very hard record to break.

The current ‘Mile’ record isn’t as old as the women’s 800m at 43 years, it’s just a mere 27 years old, with Moroccan Hicham El Guerrouj setting a time of 3 mins 43.13s.

Kerr, who normally runs over 1500m has planned his season around bringing the ‘Mile’ record “back to Britain”.

Kerr has had no bizarre training accidents recently and described his preparation as being near perfect, telling Sky Sports he would “know in the few steps whether the record is on.”