Keely Hodgkinson: Briton sets new 400m personal best in Italy

Great Britain’s Olympic and world silver medallist Keely Hodgkinson has set a new 400m personal best at a meet in Citta di Savona.

Hodgkinson, 22, broke Kelly Holmes’ British 800m record to win silver at the Tokyo Olympics in 2020, before winning the same medal in consecutive world championships.

Running half the distance in Italy, the Briton ran a time of 51.61 seconds in her first race of the year, 72 days from the start of this summer’s Paris Olympics.

Hodgkinson, whose previous 400m best was 51.76 at last year’s European Under-23 Championships, finished second behind Ireland’s Sharlene Mawdsley, who finished in 51.43.

Earlier in the day, fellow Briton Charlie Dobson also ran a personal best to win the men’s 400m. His time of 44.46 seconds moved him up to sixth on the British all-time list.