British 800m gold medal favourite lets her head rule her heart as she pulls out of Belgrade bid with “minor” injury problem

Great Britain’s middle-distance misfortune at the World Indoor Championships continued on Saturday (March 19) after 800m gold medal favourite Keely Hodgkinson made the “business decision” to withdraw from the competition through injury.

The day after men’s national record-holder Elliot Giles was unable to run due to a back problem, Hodgkinson was forced to pull out due to a strain to her right quad muscle.

It had been an injury to her left quad which hampered the 20-year-old’s training earlier in the year but she still managed to produce a British record-breaking 1:57.20 in Birmingham last month and hopes had been high that the Olympic silver medallist could land the first global title of her career.

Hodgkinson gave it until the very last minute but, still not feeling right as she made her final preparations, the decision was taken to withdraw given the major outdoor targets which lie ahead this year – chiefly the World Championships in Eugene and the Birmingham Commonwealth Games.

Keely Hodgkinson has withdrawn from the 800m due to a quad injury ??

She was one of the strongest gold medal hopes for @BritAthletics at this World Indoor Championships. #WorldIndoorChamps ?? pic.twitter.com/2kGxFnqAuw

— AW (@AthleticsWeekly) March 19, 2022

“I did everything I could do to put myself in the best position to be on the start line today but it just wasn’t meant to be,” said the European Indoor champion, who expects her lay-off to only last one or two weeks.

“There may be a weakness there [with my quads] that we need to sort out and going into the summer it’s just too big to risk anything at this stage.

“I want to go and get healthy and I want to start that process now rather than risk getting a tear or something worse. It’s probably the best, smart decision for us. I’m gutted but it’s part of the sport, I guess.”

Hodgkinson admitted this was the first race she’s ever had to withdraw from and that it had not been an easy call to make, especially with her parents having travelled to watch her race in Serbia.

“We left it to the last minute and I found out yesterday that it was a quad strain so I thought ‘I’ll go to warm-up and see how I feel’ but my gut instinct – and I usually should listen to that – was telling me not do it.

“I went to bed last night with the mindset that I was going to race today because I needed to be ready but this morning and in physio it just wasn’t really reacting right and obviously I was in this position a couple of months ago and I know what it feels like, so it’s the smart thing to do.

“I’m gutted for myself and my parents are out here to watch me as well. It’s not nice but there’s bigger fish to fry this summer.”

If there was a positive to be found, Hodgkinson was taking heart from how quickly she had been able to return from her previous setback – and that this injury is not as significant.

“I know it’s not as bad as the one I had in January. It’s annoying because I might wake up on Monday and think ‘I could probably have got through it’ but it’s hindsight, isn’t it? You just don’t know what’s going to happen. I think I’ll just suck it up now and go from there.

“It is quite tough to take and I think going into the outdoors, I potentially have the Worlds, Commonwealths, and Europeans, it’s a busy, busy time. This is a rational decision – a business decision – so I have to take the emotion out of it.”

In Hodgkinson’s absence, Ethiopian Olympic finalist Habitam Alemu was fastest in the qualifying heats, with a season’s best of 2:01.12. Jamaica’s Natoya Goule, who had been the world leader until the Briton’s Birmingham run, also went through safely in 2:01.65. Uganda’s 2019 world champion Halimah Nakaayi progressed to the final in 2:01.24, with American two-time world indoor silver medallist Ajee’ Wilson advancing in 2:03.42.

Britain’s other representative, Jenny Selman, just missed out by one thousandth of a second after finishing third in heat one with 2:02:00.

All of the key contenders in the men’s 1500m made their way to tomorrow’s final, including world record-holder Jakob Ingebrigtsen.

The Norwegian Olympic champion eased down in the closing stages of heat one, coming second in 3:38.42 to Ethiopian Teddese Lemi (3:38.25). Defending champion Samuel Tefera was fastest overall with a time of 3:37.05, while Neil Gourley will be Britain’s sole athlete in the final after winning heat two in 3:42.79. British Indoor champion George Mills was seventh in heat three with 3:47.41.