Keely Hodgkinson was aiming for the track & field record book after becoming only the third British woman to win Olympic 800m gold after Anne Packer in 1964 and Kelly Holmes in 2004 when she triumphed in Paris just over two weeks ago. It was her ninth win in nine races this season.

But despite her momentum, Olympic optimism turned to regular calendar pessimism on social media. "No more races for me," she posted on Instagram. "Unfortunately I picked up a small injury, but we achieved everything I had hoped to do this year, thank you for all the love and support!! see you on the track next year."

At the Stade de France in Paris, the 22-year-old clocked 1:56.72 in the 800m final 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.

Before her latest physical setback, the newly-crowned Paris 2024 champ was eyeing 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.

Hodgkinson would have been the favourite to cap her season with more success at the Diamond League finals in Brussels in September. However, her next major objective will be winning the world title for the first time in Tokyo in 2025.

Speaking at a Team GB Homecoming event at Manchester's AO Arena recently, Hodgkinson expressed her intention to beat Kratochvilova’s 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."

As of Wednesday though, the newest 800m queen no longer held the same optimism and   reset her schedule to 2025.