Keely Hodgkinson wins final race of 2026 season at Athlos in London in full-length, hooded Nike speed suit
Keely Hodgkinson ended an injury-affected season with victory at Athlos in London; Hodgkinson ran in a new black speed suit and will now take some time off before resuming her epic battle in the women's 800m next year with Switzerland's Audrey Werro and Netherlands' Femke Broeders-Bol
Friday 18 September 2026 21:41, UK
Keely Hodgkinson dominated the final race of her 2026 season by winning the 800m at Athlos in London as she debuted a new full-length, hooded speed suit.
Hodgkinson has been troubled by illness and injury over the last two months, revealing this week that an MRI scan has uncovered an "abnormality" in her hamstring.
The 24-year-old has been usurped by Switzerland's Audrey Werro in the women's 800m this year - an event which has become unmissable as Werro, Hodkinson and Netherlands' Femke Broeders-Bol are all pushing each other towards the world record of 1:53.28 which has stood for 43 years.
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Werro and Bol were not at the StoneX Stadium in London on Friday, so Hodgkinson cruised to victory in a time of 1:56.40 to defend her Athlos crown.
Athlos is an all-women's event which was launched last year by Reddit founder Alexis Ohanian, who is the husband of 23-time tennis Grand Slam champion Serena Williams.
Hodgkinson said after winning: "It's pretty sick! This [my outfit] is a project I've been working with Nike for a long time. This is the place to bring it out. Speed meeting style, an all-women's event. It went down a treat.
"This is fun and hopefully the youngsters can see this and get their time one day. Life is about enjoying it, so thank you for all the support!"
Having broken the women's 800m indoor world record in February, Hodgkinson was hoping to break the outdoor record set by Czechoslovakia's Jarmila Kratochvilova in 1983. The record is controversial as it came at a time when there were claims the country had a doping regime, something Kratochvilova has denied.
Hodgkinson has been overtaken in the pecking order this year by Swiss star Werro who beat Hodgkinson at the European Championships and Ultimate Championships.
She missed the last two Diamond League events and revealed she suffered a hamstring tear at the European Championships in Birmingham, but continued to run.
"My body is quite literally built differently. Where most people have one tendon, mine is split - I have two - and we're trying to figure out if it's a strength or a weakness," said Hodgkinson.
"So when one of them tore, I still had another one because it's split. In Birmingham, it didn't affect me during the race, but I could feel something wasn't quite right.
"It's a weird one. You can still run on them. I haven't missed any training the last three weeks. But I've just had to alter my approach. I've had to take my foot off the speed [training], because that's when it's most risky."
