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Keely Hodgkinson to Skip 2026 Commonwealth Games

Her team says tight scheduling before the Birmingham European Championships and recurring niggles make preserving uninterrupted training the priority to target European and World titles.

Overview

  • The Mirror reports that Hodgkinson and her coaching team have decided she will not compete in Glasgow to manage a congested summer of major championships.
  • A key factor cited is the short turnaround between the Commonwealth Games and the European Athletics Championships in Birmingham, which officials say leaves only eight days for recovery and preparation.
  • Her team framed the choice as injury prevention, pointing to prior minor niggles such as hamstring tightness and the risk of over-racing in back-to-back tournaments.
  • Hodgkinson enters the outdoor season after a standout indoor campaign that included a 400m personal best and a world indoor 800m record, which her camp wants to protect by keeping training blocks intact.
  • The move builds on her experience winning Commonwealth silver in 2022 and shifts focus to peaking at the European and World Championships later in the summer, a change that will disappoint some Glasgow fans but aims to safeguard her title chances.