Keely Hodgkinson pulled out of the 400m final at the UK Athletics Championships moments before Sunday’s race after feeling “a little twinge”.
The Olympic 800m champion has been competing over the shorter distance in a bid to improve her first-lap speed and challenge for the 800m world record this summer.
After qualifying from Saturday’s heats, she warmed up for the final in Birmingham but stepped off the track right before the finalists were put under starters’ orders.
Hodgkinson looked emotional as she stood at the side of the track before making her way back inside the Alexander Stadium.
‘s commentary team later received a message from Hodgkinson’s coach Jenny Meadows, saying she withdrew as she “felt a little twinge in her last strides before the race” and that she “wanted to play it safe”.
The 24-year-old endured an injury-disrupted 2025 and her withdrawal on Sunday comes four weeks before the London Diamond League meeting, which she has earmarked for a tilt at the 800m world record.
Amber Anning earned a reprieve after a false start in the 400m but the world indoor champion regrouped to retain her title, winning in a time of 50.16 seconds.
Minutes before Hodgkinson’s withdrawal, her friend and rival Georgia Hunter Bell retained her 800m title, leading throughout to win by a distance in one minute 55.93 seconds, breaking a championship record set by Kelly Holmes in 1995.