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Keely Hodgkinson

Keely Hodgkinson, the 19-year-old British runner who took 800m silver at the Tokyo Olympic Games, will be competing in both the 800m and 4 x 400m at the World Indoor Championships in Belgrade. The meet takes place March 18-20.

Hodgkinson is one of 33 British athletes named to the team.

Hodgkinson took the British indoor record two weeks ago in Birmingham with her 1:57.20 performance, the fastest in 20 years by any athlete. She also owns the British record outdoors, surpassing Dame Kelly Holmes’s record with her 1:55.88 clocking at the Tokyo Olympic Games.

Hodgkinson is fully committed to the 800m distance for the foreseeable future, however, does want to remain internationally competitive over the 400m sprint.

During her Dec. 2021 interview with Athletics Illustrated, she said, “Currently, I am just an 800, but today we have the perspective of trying to get my 400 down as low as we can. But then everyone says to me that I should do a 1500m and I may end up being a 1500m runner, but that can wait. I don’t want to switch to 1500 right now. I think I am very much an 800 runner but trying hard to be a 400/800.”

Hellen Obiri

Two-time Olympic silver medallist (5000m) Hellen Obiri of Kenya will be competing in the half-marathon distance again on March 27 in Istanbul, Turkey.

Obiri finished second in the Ras Al Khaimah Half Marathon on February 19. She ran to a new personal best time of 64:22, behind the winner Ethiopia’s Girmawit Gebru.

On April 4, 2021, Obiri ran the Istanbul race and finished in the time of 64:51. Fellow Kenyan Ruth Chepngetich ran to a new mixed world record in that race clocking a 64:02 performance. It was her second win of that race in three years. In 2019, she set a new course record with her winning time of 65:30.

After focusing most of her career on the 5000m event, the now 32-year-old Obiri will be looking to challenge the marathon distance. She told Athletics Illustrated, “my manager and coach is working on my competition schedule. I have a few spring races confirmed and plan to make my marathon debut in the autumn, but we have not decided which race yet.”

Expect her to compete in one of the Marathon Majors in the fall and to compete at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games.

“I would like to run the big city marathons and the championship marathon. I have two Olympic Game silver medals and would love to get a gold in Paris or LA.”