Gold medalist Keely Hodgkinson of Team Great Britain celebrates with a crown during the Women's 800m Final on day ten of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. GETTY IMAGES

Having won the Women's 800m final at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games this summer, Great Britain's Keely Hodgkinson is now channelling her recent success and targeting one of the oldest track world records.

The 22-year-old clocked 1:56.72 in the 800m final in Paris to beat out competition from Tsige Duguma of Ethiopia and Kenya's Mary Moraa to earn Team GB an Olympic gold medal. Despite winning, however, she was two seconds behind the time of 1:54.61 she set in London in July moving her up to sixth in the world all-time rankings.

Now Hodgkinson is eyeing up the longstanding 800m world record time of 1:53.28 which was set by Czech athlete Jarmila Kratochvilova back in July of 1983 at the Olympiastadion in Munich.

Britain's Keely Hodgkinson leads the Women's 800m event during the IAAF Diamond League athletics meeting at the London Stadium in London on July 20, 2024. GETTY IMAGES
Britain's Keely Hodgkinson leads the Women's 800m event during the IAAF Diamond League athletics meeting at the London Stadium in London on July 20, 2024. GETTY IMAGES

Speaking at a Team GB Homecoming event at Manchester's AO Arena recently Hodgkinson expressed her intention to beat the record that has now remained unbeaten for over four decades.

"It's definitely something I've thought about since I raced in London. I think that record has stood for so long. It's been a long time since anyone has hit one minute and 53 seconds, so I'd love to do that. I think I can. I now believe I can do that."

She's hoping to eclipse Kratochvilova's time at the 2025 World Athletics Championships in Tokyo as she bids to add a third gold to her European and Olympic medals. 

“The worlds, late September into the middle of October in Tokyo, it’s the gold medal I don’t have,” she said. “I have European gold, I’ve got Olympic gold, but I don’t have a world gold so it would be really great to try and do that next year.”