March 21 (Reuters) - Olympic champion Keely Hodgkinson was left without her kit for nearly two days after losing her luggage on the flight to Poland for the World Indoor Championships, and had to borrow training shoes ahead of the women's 800m event.
Britain's Hodgkinson, who took gold at the Paris Olympics and smashed the world indoor 800m record last month, comfortably qualified for the final in Torun, clocking one minute and 58.53 seconds on Saturday.
The luggage turned up before the first round, Hodgkinson told reporters on Friday after cruising through the first heat.
"I was starting to get annoyed. A very nice Polish girl let me borrow her spikes and they gave me a blister. I just didn’t have any kit or my supplements. But it’s all good now," the 24-year-old said.
Hodgkinson was fastest in the heats and is favourite for gold in an event she has been forced to miss three times.
“In 2022 I got all the way here, didn’t end up starting because I tore my quads. In 2024, I had a knee injury that put me out over winter, so I missed Glasgow. And last year I tore my hamstring just before it started. So it’s been emotional,” Hodgkinson added.
(Reporting by Chiranjit Ojha in Bengaluru, editing by Ed Osmond)
