She was visibly distressed and later explained her decision by stating she was ‘not feeling 100 per cent’ and did not want to ‘risk anything this summer’.
Her coach, Jenny Meadows, informed the BBC that Hodgkinson felt a ‘twinge’ during her warm-up and opted to ‘play it safe’ by not competing.
Hodgkinson has been competing in 400m races this season as a strategy to improve her first-lap speed, with the ultimate goal of breaking the 800m world record.
She is scheduled to participate in the Prefontaine Classic on 4 July and the London Diamond League on 18 July, where she plans to target Jarmila Kratochvilova’s long-standing 800m world record.
