Himalayan salt lamp proves key for Keely Hodgkinson's bid for World Championships gold in Tokyo after Olympic champion fixed injury woes
Updated 12/09/2025 at 11:44 GMT+1
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Olympic 800m champion Keely Hodgkinson's unconventional introduction of a Himalayan salt lamp has helped her to recover from a recurring hamstring injury and reach peak physical fitness ahead of the 2025 World Athletics Championships in Tokyo. Hodgkinson had not raced for over a year when she set the ninth-fastest time in history in Silesia before breaking a 23-year record in Lausanne.
'It was tough' - Hodgkinson discusses pressure of claiming Olympic glory
Video credit: TNT Sports
Olympic gold medallist Keely Hodgkinson revealed the unorthodox introduction of a Himalayan salt lamp helped her to reach peak fitness ahead of the World Athletics Championships.
Hodgkinson went into the Paris Olympics as arguably Team GB’s biggest hope of a gold medal in the 800m, and she duly delivered when beating Ethiopian Tsige Duguma to the line at the Stade de France 13 months ago.
However, since then, it has been far from plain sailing for the 23-year-old as her focus turned to going one better than her two World Championships silver medals.
Hodgkinson has suffered from a recurring hamstring injury throughout the season, which put even her hopes of reaching the start line in Tokyo in jeopardy.
That led to frustrations and "unpredictable" mood swings, which were making the Atherton-born athlete become increasingly difficult to deal with as a coach.
This unpredictability forced her coaches, Trevor Painter and Jenny Meadow,s to think outside the box in order to get Hodgkinson back on track.
"I put my heart and soul into this. I’ve spent all my life doing it. For that to be taken away was definitely quite challenging," Hodgkinson said.
"They would get told I had unpredictable mood swings. Some days I’d walk in and I’d be really happy, on other days it’d be like, don’t talk to me.
"Trevor got me one of those Himalayan salt lamps, it is as big as my head.
"He was like: ‘Oh, I’ve got you something,’ because his sister owns a crystal shop, and I’m into crystals and spirituality."
While the salt lamp may have helped Hodgkinson to remain positive off the track, there was still the issue of working out what was causing her hamstring issue and how to prevent it from ruining her entire season.
That led to her coaches going the old school way and hiring a full-time physio.
The diagnosis? A tight back.
Now Hodgkinson, whose most recent injury flare-up came when going on an eight-hour round-trip to Windsor Castle to collect her MBE, is back and firing after putting in the hard yards in the gym.
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She said: "I have always struggled with a tight back.
"But now I’m lifting a bit heavier and running faster, it puts more pressure on it.
"My body is in a good place at the moment - I am a bit heavier.
"In the gym, I’ve put on a couple of kilograms since Paris last year, but funnily enough, it hasn’t slowed me down - I think it’s made me more powerful."
The results speak for themselves, with Hodgkinson proving why she is the one to beat in Tokyo when winning a Diamond League event in Silesia, Poland.
Her time of 1:54.74 was the ninth-fastest in history and the fastest since Hodgkinson herself ran a 1:54.61 in London in July 2024.
Having two entries in the top 10 fastest 800m runs of all time puts her into an elite group, with only Caster Semenya and world record holder Jarmila Kratochvilova also appearing twice.
She wasn’t done there though, as she then broke the 23-year record set by Maria Mutola at the Athletissima Lausanne meet with a time of 1:55.69, just five days after racing in Silesia.
"I was so focused on just making a start line the whole year that once I’d finally done it, I was exhausted after Silesia," added Hodgkinson.
"Mentally, physically, emotionally, so I was so happy with how Lausanne went, considering the weather and everything that we had been through, to back it up with a 1.55."
Hodgkinson would likely have been the favourite regardless of her form going into Tokyo, providing she made the start line, but with her dogged determination to race as Olympic champion, her rivals will need to be at their very best.
"I wanted to race as an Olympic champion - I’d worked so hard to get and be announced as an Olympic champion.
"I waited a whole year to do that, and in June, I was unsure if I’d make the plane here.
"I was touch and go but going to Portugal, and being in the heat, brought on my running - it’s a bit of a miracle in a way that it’s gone so well."
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