Olympic 800m champion had not raced since Paris final
Time of 1:54.74 is fastest of year and ninth on all-time list
Even by Keely Hodgkinson’s standards this was astonishing. The Olympic 800m gold medallist had not raced for 376 days due to a series of hamstring problems. Yet on a blistering hot day in Poland she marked her return by destroying a quality field in 1min 54.74sec – the fastest time in the world this year by nearly two seconds.
Hodgkinson’s effort was also the ninth fastest in history and it was perfect timing, given the world championships in Tokyo starts in a month.
“The track here is very fast,” said Hodgkinson of the Stadion Slaski in Katowice. “I wanted to open my season today, I was ready and it worked.
