Keely Hodgkinson bitterly admitted that the season was “nothing short of a disaster”, as injury prevented her from maintaining her form and she watched teammate Georgia Hunter-Bell overtake her to win silver right before her eyes.

In the sweltering heat of Tokyo’s National Stadium, under the glare of floodlights on the final night of the 2025 World Athletics Championships, Keely Hodgkinson’s dreams of gold shattered in heartbreaking fashion. The 23-year-old Olympic champion, who had clawed her way back from a year-long injury nightmare, crossed the line in third place, her bronze medal a bitter consolation after Kenya’s Lilian Odira surged past in the dying metres. Worse still, it was her own training partner and roommate, Georgia Hunter-Bell, who pipped her to silver by a mere one-hundredth of a second in a photo finish that encapsulated the agony of her season.

Hodgkinson, tears welling in her eyes during the post-race interview, didn’t hold back. “This season has been nothing short of a disaster,” she said, her voice cracking with raw emotion. “I’ve fought so hard just to get here, and to watch Georgia edge me out like that… it stings. I thought I had silver in the bag, but the legs just weren’t there. Injury robbed me of the sharpness, the confidence. It’s been a s***show, plain and simple.” Her words hung heavy in the humid air, a stark admission from Britain’s golden girl, who had entered the championships as the overwhelming favorite to claim the world title that had eluded her in 2022 and 2023.

The race itself was a tactical masterclass turned sprint for survival. From the gun, Hodgkinson settled into her familiar front-running rhythm, dictating the pace through the bell lap at a blistering 57 seconds. The field, packed with threats like reigning world champion Mary Moraa of Kenya and Ethiopia’s Tsige Duguma, jostled for position. Hunter-Bell, the 31-year-old late bloomer who had stunned the world with Olympic 1500m bronze in Paris the previous year, shadowed her closely, her long strides conserving energy. As the pack bunched on the back straight, Odira—a relative unknown with a season’s best of 1:55.12—bided her time on the outside.

Into the final 200 metres, chaos erupted. Hodgkinson kicked hard, her arms pumping furiously, but the cumulative toll of her disrupted preparation showed. Odira unleashed a devastating surge, her lean frame slicing through the air to hit the line in a championship-record 1:54.62. Behind her, Hodgkinson and Hunter-Bell were locked in a duel of British steel. Neck-and-neck, they leaned desperately at the tape—Hunter-Bell with a defiant dip, Hodgkinson a fraction late. The clock froze: 1:54.90 for silver, 1:54.91 for bronze. A difference of 0.01 seconds, but a chasm in emotional impact.

For Hodgkinson, the moment was visceral. “I could see the line, feel the burn, and I just… faded,” she later recounted. “Georgia’s been flying all season—full training blocks, no setbacks. I respect her so much, but damn, it hurts to lose like that to your mate.” The two embraced on the track, a hug laced with mutual pride and unspoken rivalry, before Hunter-Bell lifted her arms in jubilation. “This is for everyone who doubted the comeback,” Hunter-Bell beamed, dedicating her upgrade from Olympic bronze to her family and coaches. “Keely’s my rock; racing her pushed me to dig deeper. A British one-two would have been magic, but I’ll take this any day.”

Hodgkinson’s path to Tokyo had been anything but linear—a grueling odyssey of pain, perseverance, and profound self-doubt. It began in February with a hamstring tear during a routine session ahead of her self-founded Keely Klassic in Birmingham. The injury, a grade-two strain, derailed her ambitious indoor world-record attempt at 800m and forced her to withdraw from the European Indoor Championships. “I was in tears, staring at the wall, thinking this might end me,” she confessed in a Guardian interview months later. Undeterred, she rehabbed furiously, only for the hamstring to flare again in June after a grueling eight-hour round trip to Windsor Castle for her MBE investiture. A minor setback in training followed, sidelining her from Diamond League meets in Stockholm, Eugene, and London.

By August, after 376 days without a competitive step—longer than many athletes’ entire careers—Hodgkinson returned in Silesia, Poland, clocking the ninth-fastest 800m ever at 1:54.95. It was a defiant roar, but rust lingered. She won in Lausanne a week later, yet the interrupted rhythm gnawed at her. “I’ve been piecing together fragments,” she told reporters. “Full training blocks? Forget it. It’s been physio sessions, ice baths, and hoping the leg holds.” A stomach bug struck in Tokyo, sapping her further, though she dismissed it as “no excuses.” Her coaches, Jenny Meadows and Trevor Painter, credited a full-time physio and even a Himalayan rock crystal for steadying her nerves amid the mental toll.

Contrast that with Hunter-Bell’s fairy-tale arc. The cybersecurity analyst turned full-time runner had quit athletics in 2017, burned out after a promising youth career. Lockdown reignited her fire; she reconnected with Painter and exploded onto the scene in 2024, shattering the British 1500m record en route to Olympic bronze. This year, she doubled down on the 800m, posting a personal best of 1:56.28 in London before honing her tactics in Tokyo. “I went all-in on one event,” she said. “No half-measures. Sharing a room with Keely? Best motivation ever—we’d race to the breakfast buffet.” Her silver not only validated the gamble but highlighted a shifting guard in British middle-distance running.

The championships ended on a mixed note for Great Britain: five medals, including silvers for Hunter-Bell, Jake Wightman in the 1500m, and Amy Hunt in the 200m, plus bronzes for Hodgkinson and Katarina Johnson-Thompson in the heptathlon. No golds—their worst return since 2005—amid injuries to stars like Josh Kerr and Molly Caudery. Yet the 800m double-podium offered a glimmer. UK Athletics performance director Paula Dunn praised the duo: “In a tough week, they delivered unity and grit. Keely’s bronze after all she’s endured? That’s champion mentality.”

As confetti fell and anthems blared, Hodgkinson retreated to the cool-down area, towel draped over her shoulders. The disaster she decried wasn’t total ruin; at 23, with Olympic gold already hers and a world record in her sights, Tokyo was a pivot, not an endpoint. “This season broke me down,” she reflected, “but it’ll rebuild me stronger. Next year? Watch out.” Hunter-Bell, meanwhile, eyed the horizon: “Silver’s sweet, but gold’s calling.” In the rivalry-forged bond between them, British athletics found its fierce heartbeat—poised for redemption.