Here’s our discussion on what comes next after Hodgkinson’s 1:56 opener and her record attempt in Lievin: (The following transcript has been edited lightly for clarity):

Preet Majithia: Jaws were on the floor. People were saying, 'What on earth is going on? This is the British Indoor Champs—stuff like this does not happen here.'

From what I understand, this is the first time in a couple of years that Keely has had a completely uninterrupted winter of training. No setbacks whatsoever, which is why she's so fit right now. She was trying to break the world record last year and then picked up an injury just before the Keely Classic, where she had been planning to attempt it on that very same track.

She said afterwards that she hadn't intended to run that fast. Her coaches told her to go out around 57 seconds and then see how she felt, but she decided to keep going and never really slowed down. Very impressive.

Chris Chavez: Turning our attention over to Lievin, if you're the organizers and you want to set this up for a world record attempt, you bring in a strong pacer. If the field has Tsigie Duguma and Audrey Werro (who is on a tear right now) this should be a genuine race. Don't just tuck in and let Keely just get behind the pacer, go for it. Even if you blow up and run like 1:57, it's still a good day. We learned at the World Championships last year that someone like Lilian Odira can show up with a mentality of 'I can still win this race' and make it happen. I just want a great race, even if it's set up as a record attempt.

Kyle Merber: Chris, I agree: This is actually just a good race. Keely's obviously the favorite, but you're not finding many better competitors than those two. Times are just being shattered everywhere right now. Cole (Hocker) said it too: A world record is exciting, but having other people in the race you have to actually beat to get it will always make it more meaningful. If Keely beats Audrey Werro by a second and a half, that gives us real perspective on how good she actually is. Compared to 2002, athletes today have every advantage with the shoes, the tracks, everything. Beat the competition and then we'll really know.

Chris: So what do we think she runs?

Preet: 1:54.5—I saw how easy she looked. The new break line has broken what times mean at this level. The all-time list has been rewritten this indoor season by multiple athletes, and we hadn’t seen times close to the world record in roughly 20 years and suddenly five or six people are running that quick. Something has shifted. When you look at it through the lens of what outdoor times she could run and given how effortless she looked opening with a 1:56, I think when she's fully going for it she'll go out harder than she did at British Champs. She went out in 57 seconds there and I think she goes out in 56 at Lievin. We'll see what comes from there.

Kyle: 1:55.00

Chris: I'll take the most conservative of the three: 1:55.6

Listen to more analysis on The 2026 UK Athletics Championships on the latest episode of The CITIUS MAG Podcast, here