Athletics-Hodgkinson says she is healthy after withdrawing from 400m final at UK championships

Olympic 800m champion Keely Hodgkinson withdrew from the UK Athletics Championships 400m final due to a twinge, but assured fans she was healthy and has an exciting summer ahead.

Olympic gold medallist ​Keely Hodgkinson eased fans ‌concerns ​after abruptly withdrawing from the UK Athletics Championships 400 metres final on Sunday, saying ‌she was healthy.

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. "Leaving champs healthy," Hodgkinson wrote in an Instagram post. "Sometimes the hard decision is saying ⁠no, body ​wasn't feeling ⁠100 (percent), exciting summer ahead."

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.