© Copyright – 2026 – Athletics Illustrated
In 1816 Count Giacomo Leopardi, one of the world’s all-time great poets, wrote of death, “Anticipation is the greatest happiness.”
He could have written about the outdoor athletics season, as we may witness the greatest 800 metre runner of all-time take down both the indoor and outdoor world records.
Breaking 1:55.00
Expectations now ramp up for Keely Hodgkinson’s outdoor season as she broke the world record for the indoor 800 metre event in Liévin, France. She clocked a 1:54.87 performance to improve Jolanda Čeplak’s time set in 2002. The Slovenian ran 1:55.82 at the European Championships in Austria.
The race in Liévin featured pacing and an aggressive plan that Hodgkinson executed perfectly. Wavelights were set to guide a targeted halfway and overall tempo, with the pacemaker Anna Gryc leading through early laps. Hodgkinson passed 200m in 26.47 seconds and reached 400m in 55.56 seconds. She was then on her own, reaching 600m in 1:25.06 and closing to a final 1:54.87.
The 23-year-old Brit will now aim for the outdoor world record.of 1:53.28 seconds, which has been held by Czechoslovakian Jarmila Kratochvílová since 1983,
Moving on from the dirty past
On June 18, 2007, Čeplak tested positive on erythropoietin (EPO). On July 26, the former IAAF (World Athletics) announced that the B test confirmed the result of the A test. Čeplak said that she has never taken any illegal substances and would try to prove her innocence with all means possible. She received a two-year suspension, and returned to competition in July 2009. Consequently, her record has long been suspect by athletics fans.
During the 1980s Czechoslovakia, East German and Russia were considered to likely have institutionalized or systematic doping. Kratochvílová’s record has also long been suspect.
Her fast times and atypical muscular physique during the era casts doubt on her record. In 2006 the Prague newspaper Mladá fronta DNES claimed to have uncovered a doping program run by the government of Czechoslovakia, there was no link to Kratochvílová despite her being her country’s highest-profile athlete. She and her coach of 20 years, Miroslav Kváč, maintain that it was rigorous training and high doses of vitamin B12 that account for her records, a claim treated with scepticism by the medical establishment.
Current benefits
Current athletes, however, do benefit from the use of bi-carb, which helps to shuttle lactacte, potentially assisting the athlete. Its use is currently legal and is not on the list of banned substances by the World Anti-Doping Agency. Bi-carb is widely used and is now considered a must-have. Additionally, athletes now have the assistance of super shoes as well as precision pacing with Wavelight technology.
The athletics community anticipates the outoor season and because there are no World Championships and no Olympic Games, this may just happen, but Hodgkinson will have to dig deep and perhaps go to dark places in the business end of a Diamond League race.
In 1974 American athlete Steve Prefontaine said, “The best pace is a suicide pace, and today looks like a good day to die.”
She will live, but will she own both records at season’s end?
Only time will tell.
