Keely Hodgkinson had been preparing for this moment for years.

When she stepped on to the indoor track in France on Thursday, the Briton and her team "had no doubt" she was going to break the 800m indoor world record - and she did so in some style.

But it has not all been plain sailing for Hodgkinson since she won the Olympic 800m title at Paris 2024.

The 23-year-old suffered injury issues last year which challenged her physically and mentally - but has used those setbacks to return even stronger, with her training group, the M11 Track Club, dubbing her 'Keely 2.0'.

She proved she is back to her best with her stunning indoor run in Lievin, crossing the line in one minute 54.87 seconds to smash a world record which had stood since 3 March 2002 - the day Hodgkinson was born.

And this is how Hodgkinson etched her name in the history books.

Picking the track

Since 2019, Hodgkinson has trained with coaches Trevor Painter and Jenny Meadows in Manchester.

Meadows, a former international runner, was in France to watch her protege take almost a second off the 800m indoor record, set by Slovenia's Jolanda Ceplak almost 24 years ago.

"She actually said to me the day before: 'obviously I know I'm going to get it'," said Meadows.

"There had been so many benchmarks we measure in training, we had no doubt that she would do it.

"Her biggest fear was to set a world record, but be disappointed with the time. She said 'what if I can't smile? What if I've got the world record, and everyone's so excited, and I think, oh that was rubbish. I could have gone faster'?"

The date - 19 February 2026 - had long been set in the diary by Meadows and Hodgkinson given the track in Lievin is notoriously fast.

"Lievin has had a lot of world records over the years, and we kind of thought 'you know what, let's go with the statistics'," Meadows said.

"We're only probably going to get one opportunity during this indoor season to go for it. So that's the event that we picked, and that's the date we've really had etched in our minds the last three months."

"I've got to say, the time she did was the bare minimum of what she was happy with," Meadows added.

"She definitely would have liked to run faster, and there was definitely half a second, maybe even up to one second in those legs."

Knowing what it takes

Meadows retired from the sport in 2016. As a former world and European medallist over 800m, she knew exactly what was required to make history.

"800m is so tough, your body is literally breaking down from the training," she said.

"Keely can be doing certain repetitions, and she's being physically sick from the lactic acid. It's a little bit inhumane at times."

In the build-up to Thursday's race, Meadows said the team learned lessons from previous years, and resisted the urge to do too much training with Hodgkinson - instead believing in the process and their athlete.

"Keely is a really interesting character. I was quite robotic and could follow a routine. Keely keeps us on our toes. We have to keep her interested. So we're always trying to do little different goals for her."

Meadows added: "We've not been greedy, we've really held back and said we need to believe in our process. We need to believe in our product. We need to believe in our athlete, that Keely can stand on that start line and deliver when the eyes of the world are on her."

Winning the mental battle

Nine months ago the success experienced in Lievin would have felt like a distant dream for Hodgkinson.

She had planned a tilt at the 800m indoor world record at her eponymous Keely Klassic event in February 2025 and "was in great shape", according to Meadows.

However, a hamstring problem forced Hodgkinson to withdraw, regroup and retrain - only for the injury to reoccur 12 weeks later.

Despite setbacks and a reduction in training, she made it to the start line for September's World Athletics Championships, claiming bronze behind GB team-mate Georgia Hunter Bell and winner Kenya's Lilian Odira.

"It was phenomenal, given the very little preparation [Hodgkinson] did but I doubt she's ever looked at that medal again. She wants the gold, she wants the records, and that is what was driving her forward," said Meadows.

"She isn't the most talented athlete I have ever seen. The difference between Keely and a lot of others is mindset, she can get the best out of herself on a daily basis."

'A legend of the sport' - what comes next?

In under a month Hodgkinson will head to Poland to compete in the World Athletics Indoor Championships as a firm favourite for gold.

Beyond that there is another target in her sights - the world record that has stood longer than any other in athletics.

In July 1983, Czech athlete Jarmila Kratochvilova set a women's outdoor 800m world record in a time of 1:53.28.

But 43 years on, Hodgkinson wants to beat that mark and make more history.

"She wants that more than the indoor record. Her ambition is to be a legend of the sport," said Meadows.

Kratochvilova's time remains more than a second quicker than Hodgkinson's current personal best of 1:54.61, a national record she set in London in 2024.

Her coach believes London could be the scene of what would be arguably Hodgkinson's greatest achievement.

"I think she would like to do it in the UK. London always delivers a great crowd, a great occasion. In 2026 I think she can definitely run under 1:54...

"If she goes in on interrupted training, she really does stand a chance." (BBC)

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