Keely Hodgkinson stood on the track in Silesia on Saturday with the weight of 376 silent days behind her, then tore through the 800 meters in 1:54.74, a world-leading mark and a new meet record. “It’s been a long time – over a year – since Paris,” she admitted before her return. The victory, her first since that Olympic gold medal in 2024, was more than a re-entry. It was the restoration of an athlete who once faced the possibility of never competing at all.
Her road back had been tangled with repeated interruptions. After celebrating Olympic triumph in Paris, she ended her 2024 campaign prematurely due to a minor injury. A more serious setback followed in February 2025 when a hamstring tear forced her out of the inaugural Keely Klassic and denied her a chance at the world indoor record. Another delay arrived in June when she missed Stockholm and later withdrew from London, each time conceding that her body required patience. In Poland, however, she returned with authority. The race produced personal milestones for others, Kenya’s Lillian Odira with a lifetime best of 1:56.52, Botswana’s Oratile Nowe with a national record of 1:56.76, and Australia’s Claudia Hollingsworth with an Oceania record of 1:57.67. But Hodgkinson’s win was the commanding narrative.
Behind her celebration lay a story that stretched further back than a hamstring strain. As a teenager, Hodgkinson endured a medical ordeal that could have hindered her from being an athlete altogether. Doctors discovered a tumor that crushed her hearing bones and pressed against her spine. “It crushed through my hearing bones and was just touching my spine. The decision was whether to take it out or leave it. If it kept growing, it could hit the spine and cause facial palsy – a pretty scary prospect for a 13-year-old,” she told Sky Sports. The surgery removed the growth but left her partially deaf and struggling with balance. “I couldn’t walk at first because of my balance, which was strange. Thankfully, it all went to plan. They removed it, and now I just have some missing hearing – which isn’t too bad.”
That ordeal shaped her appreciation for competition in ways most rivals will never know. Missing school for weeks, regaining mobility step by step, and adjusting to permanent hearing loss, she carried experiences that made even the prolonged recovery of the past year appear surmountable. To see her accelerate through the final stretch in Silesia, head high and stride measured, was to witness not just fitness regained but resilience revisited.
Family support made the night more memorable. Her father, Dean, drove from the United Kingdom to Katowice to watch her return. He joined the crowd in applauding a performance that reflected months of careful work with her coaches, Jenny Meadows and Trevor Painter.
The numbers told their own story. A meeting record, a world lead, and the assurance that her season now points toward Tokyo. Yet the most enduring fact was that she was there at all, restored from a childhood condition that once threatened her mobility and returned from injuries that disrupted her ascent. Before stepping on the track again, she admitted how upsetting her year-long injury layoff has been.
Hodgkinson Opens Up on the Pain of Missing a Year Through Injury
Keely Hodgkinson has spoken with unusual frankness about the mental toll her lengthy absence has taken, admitting the past year has tested her patience and spirit in equal measure. Having not competed since her Olympic triumph, the 23-year-old described her long struggle to return from injury as far more trying than she had anticipated. “It’s been a frustrating year for real,” she reflected, acknowledging that the stop-start recovery left her unable even to reach the starting line when she had planned.
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The disappointment was compounded by the sense of missing out on moments that mattered most. London, in particular, weighed heavily on her mind. “Missing London was hardest for me, because it was so good last year. I just wanted to be there in front of my home crowd, especially coming back after the Olympics,” she confessed.
The combination of lost opportunities and repeated setbacks created was “a bit upsetting at times”, a rare admission from an athlete often seen as composed under pressure. Yet Hodgkinson insisted that such frustrations will sharpen her appreciation of future successes, reinforcing her determination to savor the return.
That return finally arrived in Poland, where she lined up in the 800 meters at the Silesia Diamond League. She saw this outing as a means to regain rhythm rather than a decisive test, explaining, “I think tomorrow is just a stepping stone on the way there.” For Hodgkinson, it is not only the competition that matters, but the simple act of belonging on the track once again. “I’ve missed it. I’ve missed it a lot,” she said plainly, a reminder that beyond medals and records, the essence of her craft lies in the joy of participation itself. However, despite all setbacks in a single race, Hodgkinson proved that absence had sharpened her resolve and that the path forward still belongs to her.
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