800m news: Roisin Willis with American record, Isabelle Boffey wins with a two-second personal best

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Isabelle “Issy” Boffey of Great Britain nearly ran a national record indoors at the John Thomas Terrier Classic at Boston University on Friday. She clocked a big new personal best of 1:57.43. This was her first sub-two-minute indoor 800m, and her best outdoor performance to date remains at 1:59.30.

“It was absolutely the race of my life,” she said during a post-race video interview.

Isabelle Boffey clocks 1:57.43 at the John Thomas Terrier Classic in Boston to become the second-fastest indoor British 800m runner in history, only behind Keely Hodgkinson : ↓https://t.co/VucvQCMT9t #Athletics

— Britannia Sport (@sport_britannia) January 31, 2026

“Things with my coach and I have been going really well, and I am in such a happy and healthy place.

“I am in shock, but it does make sense with the training I’ve been doing.”

For context, the British record, currently held by Keely Hodgkinson, is 1:57.18.

Boffey’s performance makes her the eighth-fastest athlete all-time for the indoor version of the race. She is now behind only Jolanda Seplak of Slovakia, who ran faster twice. As did Keely Hodgkinson and Stefanie Graf of Austria. The great Maria Mutola ran faster four times. The only others to run faster are Christine Wachtel of Germany, Ludmila Formanová of the Czech Republic and Inna Yevseyeva of Ukraine.

The 25-year-old won the race.

American record set

Finishing second was American Roisin Willis in 1:57.97, and taking third was Gladys Chepngetich of Kenya, representing Clemson University. She finished in 1:58.81.

Willis smashed the American indoor record in the race. It was previously held by Ajee Wilson, who clocked a 1:58.29 in 2020. It is the first American indoor time under the 1:58 benchmark.

She told Let’s Run, “To be able to go out in 57 [for my first 400m] by myself, I was like, that felt smooth. It didn’t feel fast. I watched the race back, and it just didn’t look forced.”

Thirteen athletes over three heats set new personal bests of a total of 22 finishers.

Results

*Featured image: (© British Athletics).