Keely Hodgkinson Breaks Women's Indoor 800m Record

In Liévin, France, on Thursday evening, British Olympic 800-meter champion Keely Hodgkinson shattered the women's indoor world record in the event, clocking 1:54.87 to erase a mark that had stood for nearly 24 years.

The 23-year-old from Atherton surged ahead early in the World Indoor Tour Gold meeting at the Hauts-de-France Pas-de-Calais Arena, passing the first 200 meters in 26.83 seconds and the opening lap in 56.00 seconds. With pacemaker Anna Gryc leading through 600 meters in 1:25.05, Hodgkinson took over on the backstretch and powered through a 29.82-second final lap to finish well clear of the field. Switzerland's Audrey Werro placed second in 1:58.38, followed by Ethiopia's Tsige Duguma in 1:58.83. The performance sliced 0.95 seconds off the previous record of 1:55.82, set by Slovenia's Jolanda Čeplak on March 3, 2002—the day Hodgkinson was born.

Hodgkinson, who won gold at the Paris Olympics last summer, had openly targeted the record after a strong showing at the British Indoor Championships five days earlier, where she ran 1:56.33 without a pacemaker—the third-fastest indoor time ever for the distance. "I feel like it is my record to break," she said after that race...