Keely Hodgkinson Pulls Out of Zurich Diamond League, Citing Body "Not Quite Ready"
Keely Hodgkinson has withdrawn from the women's 800 metres at the Diamond League meeting in Zurich, saying her body is "not quite ready" to race again after the European Championships.
The 24-year-old Olympic champion and world indoor record holder had been nine days removed from the European Championships in Birmingham, where Switzerland's Audrey Werro beat her to gold. Hodgkinson was due to face Werro again in Zurich — a rematch that will now have to wait.
"Unfortunately the body isn't quite ready to race again after the European Championships," Hodgkinson said in a statement BBC Sport. Diamond League organisers said they fully respect her decision and hope to welcome her back to Zurich in the future.
The withdrawal continues a frustrating pattern for Hodgkinson, who has battled hamstring and knee injuries over the past few years and was forced to withdraw during the 2025 season. This summer she skipped the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow to prioritise the European Championships, managing a busy schedule carefully. That gamble delivered an 800m win at the London Diamond League on 18 July in 1:55.78 — sharp, world-class form — but the European Championships appear to have taken a toll.
The Zurich meet, the penultimate Diamond League event of the season, still features a compelling 800m field. Hodgkinson's training partner Georgia Hunter-Bell, who won 800m gold at the Commonwealth Games last month, is entered. So is Femke Broeders-Bol, the Dutch world 400m hurdles champion who has stepped up to the two-lap event this season. World 800m champion Lilian Odira of Kenya also pulled out of the Zurich race, citing illness and weakness since the Commonwealth Games.
For Hodgkinson, the door is not closed on the season. She could still race the Diamond League final, scheduled for Friday 4 and Saturday 5 September in Brussels — the last major track meeting of the year and the event where the overall Diamond League titles are decided.
What stands out is how carefully Hodgkinson is managing a career that has already peaked at the very top. An Olympic gold, a world indoor record, Diamond League wins — all achieved while her body has repeatedly pushed back. At 24, the instinct to protect the season's final weeks rather than force another race looks less like caution and more like the kind of long-term thinking that keeps careers intact.
For now, Zurich races on without its biggest 800m name. Brussels, in a fortnight, may tell a different story.
