'I wasn't going to turn that down' – Keely Hodgkinson reveals huge impact Kim Kardashian has had on her training

Keely Hodgkinson credits rubbing shoulders with Kim Kardashian at Paris Fashion Week with helping her run freely as she targets a world record in style.

The Olympic champion is aiming for her first-ever global benchmark when she takes on the current world indoor 800m best at tonight's World Indoor Tour meeting in Liévin.

The target time of 1:55.82 belongs to Slovenia's Jolanda Čeplak, set on March 3, 2002 – remarkably, the very day Hodgkinson, now 23, was born.

The British star believes reclaiming that record feels fated. And after an injury-disrupted 2025, she's thriving thanks to a renewed, relaxed approach to training that allows more time for rest and leisure.

Hodgkinson explained: "I'm really big on balance. Balance is definitely my thing. My internal happiness comes before anything else.

"So when my coach said I could take a trip to Paris to meet Kim Kardashian, I wasn't going to turn that down, and we had a great time. It was a lot of fun.

"The happier I am off the track, I bring that same energy to the track. I just am much better at training. I'm much better at racing.

"I look forward to things more. And I just think getting that balance is obviously really important."

Her coach Trevor Painter believes Hodgkinson is a near-certainty to break the record "unless she gets ill or falls over".

She has already signaled her intentions by lowering her own British record to 1:56.33 at last weekend's UK Championships in Birmingham – moving her to third on the all-time list, with the disgraced Čeplak now firmly in her sights.

Hodgkinson added: "I don't want to put a time limit on what I think I can do but I didn't mean to go that fast, which shows I'm in a really good place.

"We set out just trying to practice that first 200 and I saw the time at 400 and 600 and thought, 'Oh, we'll just keep going and end up with a really good time here'.

"But I'm not totally surprised with that time. I know I'm capable of things like that. So it's just like, how fast can we really go? And hopefully we can find out."

Training partner Georgia Hunter-Bell, who missed the domestic championships with a hamstring issue, will take on UK gold medallist Jemma Reekie in the 1,500m.