Keely Hodgkinson refused to be too hard on herself after revealing her second place in the 800 metres at the World Athletics Ultimate Championship came just one month after tearing her hamstring in the European final.
The Olympic champion produced a kick on the home straight on Saturday night in Budapest, but she was beaten by Swiss rival Audrey Werro, who claimed 150,000 US Dollars (£110,828) in prize money after crossing the line in one minute 55.88 seconds.
Hodgkinson, who claimed 75,000 USD (£55,415) as the runner-up, finished in 1min 56.26secs, with the Netherlands’ Femke Broeders-Bol third, 0.48s further back, in a hotly-anticipated showdown.
“If I had one word to sum up the season it would be ‘a roller-coaster’,” said Hodgkinson, who confirmed her injury was sustained during the European final in Birmingham.
“Honestly, from the outside, I think people will probably think I’m disappointed with that, but I was obviously going for the win.
“I have had a s**tty couple of weeks. It was very touch-and-go if I was going to be here, what my body could handle, so I’m actually really proud of my team and me and how we handled it and came back.
“Really not ideal, obviously, having an injury in the middle of the season, but I came and finished second in the world, not where I want to be, but so much further than where I thought I was going to be a few weeks ago, so I’m not going to be too hard on myself with that and just move on from that and come back next year.”
open image in galleryHodgkinson has not ruled out racing at Athlos, the all-female meet making its debut in London on Friday, saying: “I’ve survived, so I’ll line up next week and we’ll see how it goes.”
The 24-year-old has plenty to be proud of. In February, she set a new world indoor 800m record of 1:54.87 in France and lowered her own British outdoor record to 1:54:33 at the Stockholm Diamond League in June.
That race was the delayed start to Hodgkinson’s outdoor season, the result of one of several hamstring-related challenges the Briton has faced this year.
It is understandable that Hodgkinson is extra conscious of hamstring issues, having previously battled back from a 376-day layoff, resulting in a severely-truncated season before last summer’s World Championships, where she collected bronze.
open image in galleryThat period, agreed Hodgkinson, has strengthened her mental fortitude.
She added: “One of the things I’ve learned, it was like, ‘What’s the challenge coming here? Let’s make the start line, let’s get through the rounds, and then let’s see what you can do under far-from-ideal-circumstances’.
“You just don’t want this to happen again. If you were to ask a lot of athletes here, I’m sure half of them will tell you they’re probably carrying niggles and injuries and stuff.
“It’s part of the sport, but I think the adversity and how you overcome that, I’ve kind of just proven to myself I can do difficult things in difficult circumstances, and that is awesome to me.”