Athletics-Hodgkinson withdraws from 400m final at UK championships

Olympic gold medallist Keely Hodgkinson withdrew from the UK Athletics Championships 400 metres final due to a sudden twinge, prioritising her safety over competing.

Olympic gold ​medallist Keely Hodgkinson withdrew ​from the UK ‌Athletics Championships ​400 metres final moments before it was set to begin on ‌Sunday.

The 800m Olympic champion was in tears as she stepped to the side of the track, according to the ‌BBC, who reported that the 24-year-old felt a ‌twinge and had elected to play it safe rather than attempt the race. Hodgkinson suffered an injury-curtailed season in 2025, missing ⁠her ​inaugural "Keely Klassic" meet ⁠with a hamstring injury, but ended the year inspired to ⁠break the longest-standing individual track record in her signature event. Many ​have attempted to surpass the 1:53.28 set by Czech ⁠Jarmila Kratochvilova in the 800m 43 years ago but it has ⁠been ​out of reach. Hodgkinson smashed the women's world indoor record over the distance in February at ⁠the World Athletics Indoor Tour Gold meeting in Lievin, slicing ⁠0.95 ⁠seconds off the mark of 1:55.82 that Slovenia's Jolanda Ceplak posted in 2002.