{"id":234098,"date":"2026-03-19T18:57:48","date_gmt":"2026-03-19T18:57:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/2026\/03\/19\/keely-hodgkinson-leads-british-medal-hopes-at-world-indoor-championships\/"},"modified":"2026-03-19T18:57:48","modified_gmt":"2026-03-19T18:57:48","slug":"keely-hodgkinson-leads-british-medal-hopes-at-world-indoor-championships","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/2026\/03\/19\/keely-hodgkinson-leads-british-medal-hopes-at-world-indoor-championships\/","title":{"rendered":"Keely Hodgkinson leads British medal hopes at world indoor championships"},"content":{"rendered":"

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D<\/span>ue to a fault in their plane\u2019s GPS, the British team for the world indoor championships arrived at their hotel in Torun late on Wednesday night. Perhaps they should have asked Keely Hodgkinson to guide them. After all, she knows this place better than most, and she is absolutely locked on reaching her target \u2013 a first world gold medal<\/a> \u2013 in Poland this weekend.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m looking forward to it and this last month has been great,\u201d she says on the eve of the championships, which begin on Friday morning. \u201cI couldn\u2019t ask to be in a better position to be honest.\u201d<\/p>\n

It sometimes feels that Hodgkinson has been around for ever but she has only just turned 24. It was only five years ago this month that she burst on to the scene by crushing her rivals to win the European indoor championships in Torun.<\/p>\n

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But as she returns to the place where it all began, Hodgkinson is determined to recapture the spirit of 2021. \u201cThe track looks a little bit different than it did,\u201d she says. \u201cBut I\u2019m embracing my 19-year-old fearless, doesn\u2019t think too much, just turns up kind of attitude and it\u2019s working for me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hodgkinson is also a woman on a particular mission. During her glittering career, only a world indoor championship medal has eluded her, due to missing the event in 2022, 2024 and 2025 through injury. It only makes her more pumped, primed and ready to make up for lost time \u2013 especially after sustaining three different hamstring and back injuries following her Olympic gold in 2024.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s difficult for any athlete when you just want to compete,\u201d she says. \u201cYou do all this training to get out there. And every time I tried, I was just put back to the sidelines, start again, rehab. Months of it and months of it.<\/p>\n

\u201cDefinitely was draining on the mind and a lot of frustrations. But now I look back, I wouldn\u2019t change any of it. I think it was a pivotal moment for me. I learned a lot about myself. I had time off the track to just enjoy my life and just have some chill time. And I think it\u2019s made me a better athlete. It made competing for me that much more fun and exciting.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hodgkinson\u2019s main rival for gold will be the 21-year-old Swiss athlete Audrey Werro. However, Werro\u2019s season\u2019s best of 1min 57.27sec is nearly two and a half seconds behind the world record of 1:54.87 that Hodgkinson set in Li\u00e9vin in February. erhaps the only thing that can beat Britain\u2019s finest sportswoman is having to run three races in three days.<\/p>\n

But Hodgkinson isn\u2019t the only star in a world indoor championships that features nine individual Olympic champions and 11 gold medallists from last year\u2019s world championships in Tokyo.<\/p>\n

<\/svg><\/span>Josh Kerr is looking to regain the 3,000m title he win Glasgow in 2024.<\/span> Photograph: Martin Rickett\/PA<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The race of the championships? Well that appears to be the men\u2019s 3,000m, as Britain\u2019s Josh Kerr to regain the title he won in Glasgow in 2024. But he faces Cole Hocker, who beat him to gold over 1500m at the Olympics in Paris and Yared Nuguse, who took bronze in the same race. The presence of Geordie Beamish, who won the 1500m indoors in 2024 and gold in the 3,000m steeplechase in Tokyo, adds another dash of spice.<\/p>\n

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Kerr will expect to win and Britain has another strong medal contender in Georgia Hunter Bell, who has run the fastest women\u2019s 1500m in the world this year. But she will face a battle for gold with the Australian Jessica Hull and the American Nikki Hiltz among her rivals.<\/p>\n

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\nQuick Guide<\/span><\/p>\n

Five races to watch<\/h4>\n

<\/svg><\/span>Show<\/span><\/span><\/summary>\n

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Men\u2019s 3000m:\u00a0<\/b>A repeat of the 2024 Olympic 1500m final as the three medallists from Paris \u2013 Cole Hocker, Josh Kerr and Yared Nuguse \u2013 square off again. New Zealand’s Geordie Beamish, the world 3,000m steeplechase champion, is also in the mix.<\/p>\n

Women\u2019s 800m:\u00a0<\/b>It would be the shock of the championships if Keely Hodgkinson doesn\u2019t win. It should be a coronation. Switerland\u2019s Audrey Werro should follow her home while Isabelle Boffey has a medal chance.<\/p>\n

Women\u2019s 60m:\u00a0<\/b>This appears to be a straight shootout between the reigning women\u2019s 100m champion, Julien Alfred, and the Italian Zaynab Dosso. But don\u2019t discount Britain\u2019s Dina Asher-Smith. Amy Hunt should also make the final.<\/p>\n

Men\u2019s 800m:\u00a0<\/b>The 17-year-old American Cooper Lutkenhaus has a chance to make history by becoming the youngest ever world indoor medallist in a wide open event where Spain\u2019s Mohamed Attaoui, Belgium\u2019s Eliott Crestan and Australia\u2019s Peter Bol all have chances.<\/p>\n

Men\u2019s 60m:\u00a0<\/b>Britain\u2019s Jeremiah Azu is the reigning champion, but that was in a weaker field. The rising US star Jordan Anthony and the Jamaican Kishane Thompson, who finished with silver over 100m at the Olympics and world championships, are the men to beat.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n