© Copyright – 2022 – Athletics Illustrated

Keely Hodgkinson

Great Britain’s Keely Hodgkinson will be seeking her coach’s British 600m record of 1:25.81 next month at the Manchester World Indoor Tour Bronze meeting.

Coach Jenny Meadows holds the record from the same meet in 2007. Hodgkinson is also coached by Meadows’s husband Trevor Painter.

The world record of 1:23.44 is held by Russian Olga Kotlyarova from 2004. Meanwhile, Olympic champion Athing Mu is the second fastest all time. The American ran 1:23.57 in New York in 2019 — for Mu, it seems to only be a matter of time before she puts Kotlarova’s record away.

Last winter the 20-year-old Hodgkinson broke the British indoor 800m record with her 1:57.20 running in Birmingham.

Three times a bride’s maid. Hodgkinson finished second to Mu at the Tokyo Olympic Games, and the 2022 Eugene World Athletics Championships. She finished second to Kenyan Mary Moraa at the Birmingham Commonwealth Games last summer. She finally earned her gold at the 2022 Munich European Championships weeks later.

Canadian Oliver Desmeules

Olivier Desmeules of Quebec City broke the Canadian U23 600m record at the Penn State Blue & White Intrasquad meet on December 10.

His time of 1:16.63 beats the old record of 1:17.06, held by Brian Thompson from 1985.

His record-breaking run also earned him the title of Penn State Athlete of the Week. He moved to the NCAA after spending one year at Laval University in his hometown. The 22-year-old owns collegiate bests of 400m in 47.54, 800m as fast as 1:47.11, and 1000m in the time of 2:24.52.