Slovenian’s mark of 1:55.82 from 2002 looks to be living on borrowed time as Olympic champion Hodgkinson arrives in France fresh from setting a British record in Birmingham on Saturday.
A twist in fate means the current women’s world indoor 800m record of 1:55.82 was set by Jolanda Čeplak on the same day Keely Hodgkinson was born – March 3, 2002. Fast forward almost a quarter of a century and on Thursday (Feb 19) in Liévin, the Olympic champion hopes to give herself an early birthday present by replacing Čeplak’s name with her own in the record books.
After improving her own British record to 1:56.33 last weekend with such ease without the help of a pacemaker or wave lights, many expect it is almost a formality that Čeplak’s record will fall. With Hodgkinson possibly in the best form of her life so far after a heavy month of training with her M11 Track Club in Potchefstroom in South Africa, she could even get close to Jarmila Kratochvilova’s outdoor world record of 1:53.28, which was set back in 1983.
Hodgkinson was relaxed and full of smiles last weekend in Birmingham but we can expect her to be more steely-eyed on Thursday. Čeplak’s record, after all, has been in her sights for some time. In 2025 she wanted to attack the mark at the Keely Klassic but had to pull out with injury.
Čeplak set the record at the European Indoor Championships in Vienna after an intense duel with Stefanie Graf from the host nation Austria. The Slovenian Čeplak led from the start, passing 200m in 28.34, 400m in 57.34 and 600m in 86.68. To the delight of the partizan crowd, Graf then took the lead with 150m to go but Čeplak responded with a final lap of 29.14 to take the win in the closing metres by just three hundredths of a second.
“I was shivering because of the crowd cheering for Graf,” said Čeplak, “but I kept telling myself, if I die, I die. I gave it all I had as I understood I was getting close to the world record, which was my main goal.”
Čeplak enjoyed a 1.36-second improvement on her best time that day and went on to win European outdoor gold later that year in Munich before winning bronze behind Kelly Holmes in the Olympic 800m in Athens in 2004.
Controversially, the Slovenian later served a doping ban, too, from 2007-2009, with Graf also suspended for two years in 2010. Coincidentally, Jenny Meadows, who now coaches Hodgkinson with her husband Trevor Painter, also raced the 800m at the 2002 European Indoors but did not finish her heat after being clipped at around the 400m mark.
Hodgkinson’s opposition in Liévin includes Tsige Duguma, the 2024 world indoor champion and Olympic silver medallist. Hodgkinson has raced in Liévin twice in the past, although not since 2023, but Duguma won the 800m at the meeting 12 months ago.
This could be good, with Duguma racing and pushing Hodgkinson as Graf did to Čeplak in 2002. On the flip side it could lead to Hodgkinson saving a little for a final kick to win the race, which sometimes happens in record bids if the leader is not completely clear.
“I have been very vocal in the past about wanting to get it,” said Hodgkinson last weekend. “I feel like it is my record to break. We’ll give it a good go.”
READ MORE: Kratochvilova’s immortal world record
Čeplak has also commented on the record attempt this week, saying: “Of course, I wish her all the best and hope she succeeds in breaking the world record. I believe she can do it.”
The track certainly has a reputation for being fast. Among other things Jakob Ingebrigtsen set world records at 1500m and the mile at the French venue last year.
On thing for sure, the race at 22:25 local time (21:25 GMT) on Thursday is not one to miss.
One interested spectator who would have had a bird’s eye view of the action is Femke Bol, as the world 400m hurdles champion is transitioning to 800m. She is not part of the 800m line-up in Liévin and was set to attack Hodgkinson’s world 600m record of 83.41 on the same night but on Tuesday announced she will not race due to a minor injury.
Elsewhere in Liévin, Ben Pattison runs the men’s 800m just four days after claiming the UK 800m title in Birmingham.
If recovered from the injury that kept her out of the UK Indoor Championships last weekend, Georgia Hunter Bell hopes to race the 1500m and has Laura Muir’s British record of 3:59.58 and Abeba Aregawi’s European record of 3:57.91 in her sights.
Nadia Battocletti of Italy runs the 3000m with Muir’s European record of 8:26.41 a possibility, while world 1500m champion Isaac Nader of Portugal runs the 1500m.
Leonardo Fabbri of Italy faces Joe Kovacs of the United States in the men’s shot put. Emmanouil Karalis of Greece and Sam Kendricks of the United States lead the men’s pole vault line-up with Katie Moon in the women’s pole vault. The sprint hurdles races include Wilhem Belocian of France and Ditaji Kambundji of Switzerland.