"Believe you me, that time of 1:53.28 is astonishing," Jenny Meadows, former British runner and coach to Hodgkinson, told BBC Sport. Olympic champion Hodgkinson broke the 800m indoor record in February, which had stood since 2002, crossing the line in 1:54.87. "Everyone is going faster than they used to be because the shoe technology is so much better," University of Exeter professor Andrew Jones told BBC Sport. Now, in Birmingham, the best three 800m runners in the world are looking like they will contest a gripping final, if they come through Thursday's semi-finals. "All it takes is one person to raise the bar and you think more things are possible," Hodgkinson told BBC Sport.