Keely Hodgkinson decided to defy freak damage at London homecoming

Hodgkinson suffered a shock fall in training but is on the mend ahead of her race in London

Pulled hamstrings and stiff Achilles tendons are the injuries usually reserved for athletes, rather than the bashed-up knees that Keely Hodgkinson showed off in America.

A training fall hindered Hodgkinson’s preparations for the Prefontaine Classic in Eugene at the start of the month, but the Olympic 800m champion insists she is in much better shape for the Wanda Diamond League event in London today.

Hodgkinson suffered the fall just before she was due to fly out to the States, and while she was able to compete in Oregon, she suffered a second successive defeat as Kenyan world champion Lilian Odira edged her out.

That came after a loss to Switzerland’s Audrey Werro in Stockholm, meaning that Hodgkinson is still searching for a first outdoor 800m win of the season – a victory she hopes will come in London.

She explained: “I’m definitely better than I was heading into Prefontaine (Classic in Eugene) when I had a fight with a metal grate.

“I was just cooling down after training. There was a metal mesh on the floor to stop people slipping, and there was a corner sticking up. I tripped up and my knees went straight into it.

“It took chunks out of both knees; it wasn’t pretty at all.

“It’s probably given me a bit of perspective. Sometimes it’s just about enjoying it, relaxing, and having fun. That’s when I perform at my best. I just want to run freely and see what happens.”

The immediate aftermath of the injury was not easy, standing up and sitting proved challenging, while the emotional toll was equally draining.

In London, Hodgkinson will go up against Olympic silver medallist Tsige Duguma of Ethiopia, as well as Dutch superstar Femke Broeders-Bol, who has made the step up to 800m from 400m and 400m hurdles this season.

Broeders-Bol has made a fast start to life as a middle-distance runner, including running an impressive 1min55 in Paris last month, with Hodgkinson impressed by the speed of her transition.

She said: “She’s built like a gazelle. She’s been in some really fast races – Audrey (Werro) in Ostrava, Audrey again in Paris, so when you’re in races like that, the entire field ran fast in Paris, there was a lot of 1:55s and 1:56s.

“I’m happy for her. I look forward to seeing what the next few years are.

“We don’t live in the same place obviously, but we go on camp to the same places, so we always meet up for coffee or lunch and stuff, and we text quite a lot as well.”

Hodgkinson has a British record to her name this season and had been tipped to challenge Jarmila Kratochvila’s long-standing world record over 800m after winning the world indoor title.

But her recent fall has seen those ambitions put on the back burner, with Hodgkinson simply focused on bringing home a victory in her first outdoor 800m on British soil since that magical Paris night two years ago.

She added: “I haven’t missed any training. I feel quite good. I’m just taking the pressure off myself because I don’t have anything to prove. I don’t need to chase anything just because anybody else wants it to be done.

“I’m in really good shape and in a really good place. I think fast times come from great races. If that’s (in London) then great. If it’s in a few weeks or next year, I don’t care. For me, it’s winning and being back on top, especially after these last couple of weeks when it’s been a bit difficult, so that’s my main focus.”

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