Hodgkinson and Kerr seek world records in London

By admin — In News — July 16, 2026

   ​British stars Keely Hodgkinson and Josh Kerr will attempt to break world records at the Diamond League meeting at London Stadium on Saturday.With hopes of a capacity 60,000 crowd roaring her on, Olympic champion Hodgkinson will bid to break athletics’ longest-standing individual track world record when she lines up in the women’s 800m at 15:51 BST.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementKerr, the 2023 world 1500m champion, is aiming to add his name to the stellar list of British men to have held the world record for the mile (15:36 BST).Among other British stars in action are Zharnel Hughes in the men’s 100m, Amy Hunt, Dina Asher-Smith and Success Eduan in the women’s 200m, Matthew Hudson-Smith and Charlie Dobson in the men’s 400m and Max Burgin, Jake Wightman and Ben Pattison in the men’s 800m.Global stars to watch include pole vault world record holder Armand Duplantis and Emmanuel Wanyonyi, who will compete in the men’s 800m one week after breaking the 1,000m world record in Monaco.Women’s 100m Olympic champion Julien Alfred and men’s 100m world champion Oblique Seville will also be there.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementYou can watch live coverage of the London Athletics Meet on BBC One and BBC iPlayer from 13:00 BST, while there will be live text commentary and video highlights on the BBC Sport website and app.Speed suits & altitude rooms – how Kerr plans to beat mile world recordHodgkinson ready for ‘battle of world records’ in LondonHodgkinson, 24, has had a frustrating outdoor season and has yet to win a Diamond League race this year, despite improving her own British record.After breaking the 24-year-old world indoor record in Lievin in February, Hodgkinson captured her first world indoor title in commanding fashion in March.Those successes raised hopes that Hodgkinson would be able to break Czech athlete Jarmila Kratochvilova’s record time of one minute and 53.28 seconds, set in Munich in 1983.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementThe Briton improved her national record to 1:54.33 in Stockholm in early June but suffered a shock defeat by Switzerland’s Audrey Werro, who ran the third fastest 800m in history to win the race.Two weeks later, Hodgkinson pulled out of the 400m final at the UK Athletics Championships in tears after feeling “a little twinge” moments before the race.After Werro improved her best time to 1:53.80 in Paris, Hodgkinson looked to kick-start her season at the Diamond League meeting in Eugene.However, competing with both knees strapped after a heavy fall in training, she finished in second place behind world champion Lilian Odira.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementHopefully, Hodgkinson is now fully fit and able to go all out to attack the world record in London.She will face tough competition in Ethiopia’s Olympic silver medallist Tsige Duguma and Dutch star Femke Broeders-Bol, who has made rapid strides since moving up from 400m to 800m this season and recorded a time of 1:55.60 in Paris.However, traini  

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