Keely Hodgkinson is forced to push return date BACK after suffering another injury setback... with BBC Sports Personality of the Year winner still yet to race since Olympics triumph
Keely Hodgkinson 's first race since the Olympics has been further pushed back after she suffered a setback in her recovery from a hamstring injury.
The 23-year-old was due to run in the Stockholm Diamond League on Sunday, which would have been her first competitive outing since winning 800 metres gold in Paris last August.
However, Hodgkinson has now pulled out of the meeting in Sweden and, while no timescale has been put on her return, her participation in other upcoming events is also now in doubt.
The British star is next due to run in the Prefontaine Classic in the USA on July 5, before the London Diamond League meeting at a sold-out London Stadium on July 19.
Hodgkinson's main target this year is to be on the start line at the World Championships in Tokyo, which start on September 13, as she bids to win gold at that event for the first time.
The BBC Sports Personality of the Year has been plagued by problems since the Paris Olympics.
A knee issue forced her to prematurely abandon her 2024 season last August, before she tore her hamstring in February, just days before her own Keely Klassic event in Birmingham.
That injury ruled Hodgkinson out of the entire indoor season, including the European and World Championships, and the start of her outdoor campaign has now also been delayed.
In Stockholm, the Atherton athlete was set to run against Ethiopia's Tsige Duguma and Kenyan Mary Moraa, who won silver and bronze behind her in Paris, as well as British team-mates Georgia Hunter-Bell and Jemma Reekie.
Speaking after receiving her MBE last month, Hodgkinson admitted she was apprehensive about returning to racing.
'I feel out of practice in a way, because by the time I do race it will be 10 months,' she said. 'The first race will be a nerve-wracking one because my last race I literally became Olympic champion.'
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