Keely Hodgkinson: Great Britain's Olympic 800m champion reveals hamstring abnormality

Keely Hodgkinson is part of the leading trio of women's 800m runners, alongside Audrey Werro and Femke Broeders-Bol

Olympic champion Keely Hodgkinson says an MRI scan has uncovered an "abnormality" in her hamstring.

The 24-year-old is still learning how to manage the anomaly, which allows her to continue running when one of the tendons is torn but may also make her more susceptible to breakdowns.

"My body is quite literally built differently," said Hodgkinson. "Where most people have one tendon, mine is split - I have two - and we're trying to figure out if it's a strength or a weakness.

"It's a weird one. You can still run on them. I haven't missed any training the last three weeks. But I've just had to alter my approach. I've had to take my foot off the speed [training], because that's when it's most risky."

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Hodgkinson has endured two injury-plagued seasons since winning Olympic gold in Paris in 2024, waiting for more than a year to race again after suffering a hamstring injury the following February.

However, she has been unable to replicate that form outdoors, suffering three defeats by Werro, including losing her European crown to the 22-year-old.

But, while acknowledging that the fall could have contributed to her injury at the European Championships - which ruled her out of Diamond League meets in Zurich and Brussels - she stressed she is not making excuses.

"Going into the Europeans, I thought I was in the best shape ever. But when I fell over, that kind of messed me up way more than I thought it did. I think that's what contributed to my hamstring, because I couldn't really use my quad for a while."

Hodgkinson will end her 2026 season in London at the all-female Athlos event, launched by Reddit founder Alexis Ohanian, on Friday.