Keely Hodgkinson reveals horror accident on canal path that derailed world record bid and left her bloodied

KEELY HODGKINSON revealed her bid for the world record was derailed by a horror accident on a canal path. The Paris 2024 Olympic 800m champion kicked off the year by setting the best-ever indoor time. Keely Hodgkinson revealed how a freak accident led to her hamstring injury Credit: AP The Brit track star fell after tripping on a metal grill on a canal path Credit: Getty And she added her personal best and the British record outside in Stockholm in June. However, she was determined to try and become the fastest woman of all time over 800m, especially with the European Championships on home soil. Sign up for the Sport newsletter Thank you! Hodgkinson, 24, had to settle for second, though, after suffering a hamstring tear. But now she has revealed the injury may have been the consequence of a freak incident. The Brit track superstar fell during a cool-down run alongside a canal in July when she tripped on a metal grill. She did not have time to break her heavy fall with her hands, leaving her with bloodied knees and jarring her back. And Hodgkinson is convinced it contributed to the hamstring issue. She said: “In the Europeans, I was in the best shape ever, but sometimes it doesn’t always translate. Most read in Athletics SUN VEGAS WELCOME OFFER: GET UP TO £100 BONUS She finished second behind Audrey Werro at the European Athletics Championships last month Credit: AP “When I fell over, that kind of messed me up way more than I thought it did. “And I think that’s what’s contributed to my hamstring, because I couldn’t really use my quad for a while.” Steve Ovett suffered a similar twist of fate in 1981, tripping and falling through metal railings four months after breaking the world mile record. He sustained a knee injury which had a big impact on his 1982 season. Speaking ahead of her final race of the season at Friday’s Athlos women-only event in London – after returning from the hamstring injury at the lucrative Ultimate Championships in Budapest – Hodgkinson also gave rare insight into the make-up of her body, and revealed she is “literally built different”. The indoor world champ, who felt a twinge ten minutes before the Euros final in August, added: “My body’s quite literally built different. “So where everyone has one tendon, mine split, so I have two. We found it last year on an MRI scan after I tore it. “We’re trying to figure out if it’s a strength or a weakness. So when one of them tore, I still had another one. “It meant that I didn’t feel the injury until later on when it got a bit tight. I was like, ‘Oh, something’s not quite right,’ but it didn’t affect me during the race. “The pro is it means that when one is down, I can still run on the one that works. But maybe it’s slightly weaker than the one that’s attached. “But it’s a weird one: you can still run and I haven’t missed any training the last three weeks. I’ve just had to alter my approach.” Comment now