“It was horrible,” Keely Hodgkinson said after comfortably progressing to the women’s 800m semi-finals at the World Athletics Championships, telling the BBC that “I was losing my mind.”

Tokyo, September 18, 2025 – The sweltering heat of the Japanese capital hung heavy over the National Stadium, turning the air into a thick, oppressive blanket that tested even the fittest athletes. For Keely Hodgkinson, the reigning Olympic 800m champion from Great Britain, the women’s heats on Thursday afternoon felt less like a race and more like a descent into personal purgatory. Despite gliding through her heat with relative ease—finishing second in a time of 1:59.12 to secure her spot in the semi-finals—the 23-year-old Wigan native was anything but composed in the aftermath.

In a candid interview with the BBC immediately after crossing the line, Hodgkinson pulled no punches about the mental toll the conditions exacted. “It was horrible,” she admitted, her voice laced with exhaustion and disbelief. “I was losing my mind out there. The humidity… it just sucks everything out of you. I felt like I was running through soup, and every lap I was second-guessing if I could hold on.” Her words painted a vivid picture of an athlete pushed to the brink, not by the competition, but by the invisible adversary of Tokyo’s late-summer climate, where temperatures hovered around 35 degrees Celsius and humidity levels spiked above 70 percent.

Hodgkinson’s progression was far from a foregone conclusion, given the turbulent year she had endured leading into these championships. What began as a triumphant 2024—capped by her stunning gold medal victory in the Paris Olympics, where she surged past Ethiopia’s Tsige Duguma in the final 100 meters—quickly unraveled into a nightmare of injuries and setbacks. A trio of hamstring tears sidelined her for a staggering 376 days, forcing the young star to miss key Diamond League meets and rebuild her form from scratch. “This season has been an absolute s—show,” she later reflected in a Telegraph interview, a sentiment that underscored the resilience required to even toe the starting line in Tokyo.

Yet, here she was, back on the global stage, her trademark ponytail bobbing as she navigated the tactical chess match of the 800m heats. The field was stacked with talent: Kenya’s defending world champion Mary Moraa, who had edged Hodgkinson for silver in Budapest two years prior; France’s Amandine Moro-Bello, a semi-final specialist; and a cadre of emerging threats from Ethiopia and Uganda. Hodgkinson, ever the strategist, positioned herself near the front early, avoiding the chaotic scrum that often dooms middle-distance runners in qualifying rounds. By the bell, she had settled into a rhythm, her long strides eating up the track while conserving energy for the semi-finals scheduled for Friday.

Her heat-mate and training partner, Georgia Hunter-Bell, mirrored her success in an earlier race, clocking 1:58.76 for second place behind Moraa. The duo, who share a hotel room and rigorous training sessions under coach Jenny Meadows, have become the unlikely architects of a British 800m renaissance. Hunter-Bell, who just two years ago was an amateur lacing up for parkruns, snagged Olympic bronze over 1500m in Paris and now eyes a historic one-two finish with her roommate. “Keely’s been my rock through all this,” Hunter-Bell said post-race. “Seeing her push through today? It’s inspiring. We’re not just racing each other—we’re lifting the whole team.”

For Hodgkinson, the mental fragility she confessed to the BBC stems from more than just the weather. The 800m is a brutal blend of aerobic endurance and anaerobic sprinting, where lapses in focus can cost fractions of a second—and medals. Her Paris triumph was a masterclass in composure: leading from the gun and unleashing a devastating kick that left pursuers in her wake. But 2025’s interruptions had eroded that confidence, turning warm-ups into anxiety-ridden rituals. “I need to fix my routine before the final,” she told The Independent ahead of the semis. “The call room here feels like a pressure cooker without your coaches. It’s all on you.”

As the championships progress, Britain’s medal hopes rest heavily on Hodgkinson’s shoulders. The host nation has dominated the early days, with the U.S. topping the table through sprints and relays, but Team GB has sputtered, managing just Jake Wightman’s 1500m silver to date. Max Burgin, the men’s 800m hopeful, breezed into his final with a sub-1:44 clocking, offering a glimmer of middle-distance parity. Yet all eyes remain on the women’s 800m, where Hodgkinson’s pursuit of world gold—elusive after silvers in 2022 and 2023—could redefine her legacy.

Hodgkinson’s backstory adds layers to her vulnerability. Raised in Leigh, Greater Manchester, she joined Leigh Harriers at nine, juggling swimming and track before committing fully to the orange oval. A near-quit at 15—averted only by her father’s promise of new running shoes—led to a string of junior titles. By 19, she was a Tokyo Olympian, earning silver in a photo-finish heartbreaker. Now an MBE recipient and BBC Sports Personality of the Year, she’s traded criminology studies at Leeds Beckett for full-time athletics, her life a whirlwind of physio sessions and Old Trafford visits as a die-hard Manchester United fan.

The semi-finals loomed large as the sun dipped below Tokyo’s skyline, promising sharper fields and higher stakes. Hodgkinson, wiping sweat from her brow in the mixed zone, forced a smile for the cameras. “If today was horrible, imagine the final,” she quipped to reporters. But beneath the humor lay steel: the same resolve that propelled her through Paris’ rain-soaked lanes. With Hunter-Bell by her side and a nation willing her on, Hodgkinson’s “lost mind” might just find its way to the podium once more.

In a sport where margins are merciless, her words served as both warning and rallying cry. The World Athletics Championships, now in its third day, had found its narrative thread—a British bullet aiming to pierce the humid haze and claim what feels rightfully hers. As semi-final start lists finalized, whispers of a sub-1:55 showdown electrified the air. For Hodgkinson, redemption wasn’t just a race; it was survival.