ANDREW COSCORAN LOWERED his own Irish indoor 1500m record on the same night as Olympic champion Keely Hodgkinson broke the women’s indoor 800m world record at a meet in Lievin, France.
Hodgkinson clocked a time of 1:54.87, shaving almost a second off the mark set by Slovenia’s Jolanda Ceplak (1:55.82) on 3 March, 2002 — the day Hodgkinson was born.
Coscoran, meanwhile, ran 3:33.09 at the World Indoor Tour Gold event. His previous best indoors was 3:33.40, from the Millrose Games in New York last year.
The Balbriggan man finished third: World champion Isaac Nader of Portugal won in 3:32.44, while Italy’s Federico Riva was second in 3:33.04.
Coscoran will now continue his preparations for next month’s World Indoor Championships in Torun Poland. He is entered in both the 1500m and 3000m for the national championships in Dublin next weekend.
That's how to do it! 🫡
Andrew Coscoran (Star of the Sea AC) has lowered his own Irish indoor 1500m record clocking 3:33.09 to finish third at the World Indoor Tour Gold meeting in Liévin, France 🤩
Hodgkinson shared her relief after setting the world record, having backed up her words from earlier in the week: she confidently told a press conference the record was hers to take.
“Thank God. That was really fun, I was really looking forward to this,” the English athlete told the crowd in the north of France.
Hodgkinson flew through the opening 400m in 55.56 as she swiftly distanced herself from the competition.
On the final lap, she strode away to come in 0.95sec ahead of the near 24-year record.
On Saturday, the 23-year-old had clocked 1:56.33, without a pacemaker or the assistance of pace-setting lights at the edge of the track — the third-fastest time in the history of the British Athletics Championships.
“I feel like it is my record to break,” Hodgkinson said after that performance in Birmingham.
Before the British Championships, she had not competed indoors for nearly three years.
She had set her sights on breaking the record last winter but had to give up due to a knee injury.
She was then hampered by hamstring injuries at the start of the summer and had to settle for bronze at the World Championships in Tokyo in September.
Sharlene Mawdsley was also in action in Liévin, opening her season with a third-place finish in the 400m. The Tipperary star clocked 51.85; the fastest in the event by an Irishwoman so far this year and inside the Athletics Ireland ‘B’ Standard for the World Indoor Championships.
Luke McCann finished sixth in the 1500m B race, running a season’s best time of 3:39.89 as he continues his comeback from a long-term injury.
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Hodgkinson breaks 800m world indoor record as Coscoran lowers own Irish 1500m mark
ANDREW COSCORAN LOWERED his own Irish indoor 1500m record on the same night as Olympic champion Keely Hodgkinson broke the women’s indoor 800m world record at a meet in Lievin, France.
Hodgkinson clocked a time of 1:54.87, shaving almost a second off the mark set by Slovenia’s Jolanda Ceplak (1:55.82) on 3 March, 2002 — the day Hodgkinson was born.
Coscoran, meanwhile, ran 3:33.09 at the World Indoor Tour Gold event. His previous best indoors was 3:33.40, from the Millrose Games in New York last year.
The Balbriggan man finished third: World champion Isaac Nader of Portugal won in 3:32.44, while Italy’s Federico Riva was second in 3:33.04.
Coscoran will now continue his preparations for next month’s World Indoor Championships in Torun Poland. He is entered in both the 1500m and 3000m for the national championships in Dublin next weekend.
Hodgkinson shared her relief after setting the world record, having backed up her words from earlier in the week: she confidently told a press conference the record was hers to take.
“Thank God. That was really fun, I was really looking forward to this,” the English athlete told the crowd in the north of France.
Hodgkinson flew through the opening 400m in 55.56 as she swiftly distanced herself from the competition.
On the final lap, she strode away to come in 0.95sec ahead of the near 24-year record.
On Saturday, the 23-year-old had clocked 1:56.33, without a pacemaker or the assistance of pace-setting lights at the edge of the track — the third-fastest time in the history of the British Athletics Championships.
“I feel like it is my record to break,” Hodgkinson said after that performance in Birmingham.
Before the British Championships, she had not competed indoors for nearly three years.
She had set her sights on breaking the record last winter but had to give up due to a knee injury.
She was then hampered by hamstring injuries at the start of the summer and had to settle for bronze at the World Championships in Tokyo in September.
Sharlene Mawdsley was also in action in Liévin, opening her season with a third-place finish in the 400m. The Tipperary star clocked 51.85; the fastest in the event by an Irishwoman so far this year and inside the Athletics Ireland ‘B’ Standard for the World Indoor Championships.
Luke McCann finished sixth in the 1500m B race, running a season’s best time of 3:39.89 as he continues his comeback from a long-term injury.
– © AFP 2026
- With reporting from Emma Duffy
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