As the World Indoor Championships begin in Poland, chaos arrived sooner than expected for Keely Hodgkinson. The British middle-distance star, fresh off record-breaking runs in Birmingham and Liévin, saw her campaign stumble before it even began. Everything suddenly went wrong at the worst possible time.

The two-time Olympic medalist’s luggage went missing en route to Poland, which was an unfortunate turn of events. But to make matters worse, it meant that Hodgkinson had to train without her equipment the day before her 800m heat.

However, thanks to someone’s kindness, the 24-year-old was able to manage things somewhat. But even that came at a cost.

“Yeah, it came last night. Thank God, I was starting to get annoyed,” Hodgkinson said after her 800m heat.

“A very nice Polish girl let me borrow her spikes, and they gave me a blister. And then, I just didn’t have any kit, and then all my supplements and stuff, I didn’t have any of that. So I was like, ‘Oh, I really need to turn up now.’ But I did, it’s all good.”

As she revealed, her luggage eventually arrived alongside her supplements and other equipment, causing her inconvenience ahead of an important event. However, she didn’t let it show through in her performance.

The Olympic gold-medalist flew through her competition, passing the 400m mark in 60.06 seconds. She then turned up the pace to draw clear of the pack as she passed the 600m mark in 91.31 seconds.

But this isn’t it. There were a few other things that didn’t sit well with her, too.

Keely Hodgkinson eventually finished the heat 43 seconds ahead of her closest rival, Switzerland’s Valentina Rosamilia, who crossed the line as the runner-up in 2:01.15. The semi-final will take place on March 21, and fellow British representative Isabelle Boffey will join Hodgkinson.

However, the 24-year-old didn’t enjoy the heat, and she admitted as much in her post-run interview.

“No, I just don’t like rounds,” the Olympian added. “I don’t like them at all. That was ho- horrible, to be honest. Um, yeah, I just… When you’re so used to training a certain rhythm and stuff, to just make sure you get through the rounds and conserve energy and not fall over.

“You know, all these things do go through your head. Like, I’m very experienced at this now, but you’re exposed to anything. So yeah, just glad that’s done with. I feel like tomorrow we step it up again into the final and semi.”

She will definitely have to step it up, as five other runners clocked better times than her during the heats, including Boffey. Italy’s Eloisa Coiro finished (1:59.87) with the best time at the meet so far, with Switzerland’s Audrey Werro and Slovakia’s Gabriela Gajanova close behind.

Keely Hodgkinson focused on only winning 800m gold at World Indoors

While neither Boffey, Werro, nor Gajanova will be in her semi‑final tomorrow, Italy’s Coiro will. She will also line up alongside Addison Wiley (2:00.85), Rocio Arroyo (2:01.35), and Alison Andrews‑Paul (2:01.46). That means Keely Hodgkinson will need to be at her best again, though the 24‑year‑old has been in strong form.

She entered the tournament after breaking her own British 800m record on February 14, before breaking the world record five days later. Her record-breaking time in Lievin was just under a second quicker than the record set by Jolanda Čeplak in 2002. But that has been coming, especially since Hodgkinson has set times around Čeplak’s record for years before finally surpassing it.

That may have added extra pressure coming into her first World Indoors Championship, but Keely Hodgkinson refuted that claim.

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“Um, no,” Hodgkinson said when asked if she’s put extra pressure on herself to win the gold. “But I mean, obviously I’d love… I, I wanna get gold. Like, I wouldn’t be happy with anything else. Um, but ultimately, like, I can just do my best, that’s literally it.

“I said before I came into this indoor season, didn’t set any goals. You know, I think my coach wanted me to win here, but I was like, “I’ve tried so many times,” [laughing] like, it… To see me is great. Um, so I’m happy to be here. I’ve had a good season so far. It’s been amazing, and hopefully it just continues.”

The 24-year-old was targeting medals at the 2022 World Indoors but injured her quad before the event kicked off. A similar situation happened again in 2024, when she had a knee injury that saw her miss Glasgow, before a torn hamstring forced her to withdraw from the 2025 edition.

But now that she has finally made her mark at the event, Keely Hodgkinson is going for the record. Will she achieve her goal? Only time will tell!