World 800m champion Lilian Odira is poised to reignite her rivalry with Britain’s Keely Hodgkinson and Georgia Hunter-Bell when the three middle-distance queens parade at the Prefontaine Classic on July 4.
Their latest collision in Eugene comes on the back of an explosive showdown at the World Athletics Championships Tokyo last September. In that electric race in Tokyo, Odira unleashed a devastating finishing kick, sweeping past the two Britons to storm to world gold in a championship record of 1:54.62. Hunter-Bell chased her home for silver in 1:54.90, while Hodgkinson settled for bronze in 1:54.91.
The Tokyo duel marked only the third head-to-head between Odira and Hodgkinson. Before their world championship clash, the pair had flexed their muscles at the Silesia Diamond League meeting in August.
In that race, Hodgkinson reigned supreme, slicing through the field to clock 1:54.74 ahead of Odira, who settled for second in 1:56.52. Botswana’s Oratile Nowe finished third in 1:56.76. Their first meeting dates back to the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, where they crossed paths in the semifinals.
Hodgkinson dictated the pace and powered to victory in 1:56.86 to book her slot in the final, while Odira faded to fourth in 1:58.53, narrowly missing out on qualification.
Hodgkinson would go on to clinch Olympic gold in 1:56.72, with Ethiopia’s Tsige Duguma (1:57.15) and Kenya’s Mary Moraa (1:57.42) claiming silver and bronze, respectively. Odira is yet to open her 2026 campaign, but she strides into the new season buoyed by a commanding 2025 campaign.
Her season roared to life with a strong third-place finish at the National Cross Country Championships in Eldoret, where she clocked 7:09 over 2km. She then transitioned smoothly indoors, storming to an 800m victory at the Lyon meet in 2:01.24 before returning to the mud to finish second at the Sirikwa Classic Cross-Country Championship in 6:47 over 2km.
There was a brief stumble at the World Indoor Championships in Nanjing, China, where she timed 2:16.12 in the 800m semifinals to miss out on the final. She bounced back emphatically, stringing together back-to-back victories: a commanding 1,500m win (4:21.5) at the fifth AK weekend meet, followed by an authoritative 800m triumph (1:58.31) at the Kip Keino Classic before sealing the national 800m title in 2:02.08.
Meanwhile, Hodgkinson has already fired an early warning shot in 2026. On February 19 at the Meeting Hauts-de-France, she obliterated the world 800m Indoor record, clocking 1:54.87. Hunter-Bell has also been in sparkling form this year, collecting back-to-back indoor 1,500m victories in Karlsruhe (4:00.04) and at Meeting Hauts-de-France (4:00.21).
