June 21 (Reuters) - Olympic gold medallist Keely Hodgkinson eased fans concerns after abruptly withdrawing from the UK Athletics Championships 400 metres final on Sunday, saying she was healthy.
The 800m Olympic champion was in tears as she stepped to the side of the track, according to the BBC, who reported that the 24-year-old felt a twinge and had elected to play it safe rather than attempt the race.
"Leaving champs healthy," Hodgkinson wrote in an Instagram post. "Sometimes the hard decision is saying no, body wasn't feeling 100 (percent), exciting summer ahead."
Hodgkinson suffered an injury-curtailed season in 2025, missing her inaugural "Keely Klassic" meet with a hamstring injury, but ended the year inspired to break the longest-standing individual track record in her signature event.
Many have attempted to surpass the 1:53.28 set by Czech Jarmila Kratochvilova in the 800m 43 years ago but it has been out of reach.
Hodgkinson smashed the women's world indoor record over the distance in February at the World Athletics Indoor Tour Gold meeting in Lievin, slicing0.95 seconds off the mark of 1:55.82 that Slovenia's Jolanda Ceplak posted in 2002.
(Reporting by Amy Tennery in New York; Editing by Alexandra Hudson)
