Keely Hodgkinson is not used to playing second fiddle on the British athletics scene but after the summer of Josh Kerr, she is ready to become the queen of Birmingham.

Kerr grabbed the headlines and made history by taking down the 27-year-old mile world record at the Wanda Diamond League in London last month, and while Hodgkinson’s first outdoor win of the season a matter of minutes later was hardly a case of after the lord mayor’s show, it did not quite have the impact it might otherwise have done.

Still, Hodgkinson is Britain’s golden girl, Olympic champion over 800m in Paris two summers ago, as well as an indoor 800m world record holder and the sixth fastest woman in history.

Kerr tells a brilliant tale – and can back it up with a Commonwealth title on home soil in Glasgow – but Hodgkinson is the greatest athlete to have represented GB since Sir Mo Farah and Dame Jessica Ennis-Hill.

And after starting the summer with back-to-back defeats over 800m, she is ready to show that when it comes to Championship racing – specifically the European Athletics Championships at the Alexander Stadium in Birmingham – there is no one better.

She said: “Birmingham is the important part now, so I'm really looking forward to it. Championship racing is very different from the circuit. It'll probably be three rounds in three days, which is completely different. There'll be no pacing, times don't matter, it's all about championship racing and handling pressure.

“I know my training is in a really good place. I've always said I get a lot of my confidence from training because I know what I'm capable of. Championship racing is just a different mindset. On the circuit everyone's chasing times, but at championships it's a blank slate. I've gone in ranked number one and not won, and I've gone in ranked eighth and come away with a medal. That's what makes it exciting.”

The women’s 800m has the potential to be the best race of the entire Championships, with Hodgkinson and newly-crowned Commonwealth champion Georgia Hunter Bell – her training partner – providing the British challenge.

For once, there is a case that neither should be considered the favourite, such has been the form of Switzerland’s Audrey Werro this season.

The Swiss star became only the third athlete in history to run a sub-one minute 54-second 800 metres when beating Hodgkinson in Stockholm at the start of June, before repeating the feat in Paris three weeks later.

Consider that prior to those two runs, no woman had managed it since Jarmila Kratochvila set the world record back in 1983, the longest standing mark in the sport.

For many observers, it was Hodgkinson who looked the best bet to take down that record after a world indoor title in March.

That came with a world indoor record – a mark coincidentally set the day Hodgkinson was born.

But in contrast to Kerr, who announced his decision to go after the mile world record months in advance, before achieving the feat, Hodgkinson has a very different approach.

She explained: “Every athlete has to find what works for them. That approach obviously works for Josh. He doesn't race very often and competes when he's ready.

“I don't race that often either, but I'm at my best when I'm relaxed and enjoying myself. That's my priority, and whatever comes from that comes from that.

“I don't even know what I'm doing next week, never mind in five months. That's just not how I work.”

If Werro’s form could not be better, Hodgkinson had to deal with the most unusual of setbacks in her own build-up to Birmingham.

While she has spent the final stretch before the Europeans on a training camp in Portugal, Hodgkinson’s summer was previously perturbed by a fall in training onto a metal grate that had left her with bashed up knees for a race in Eugene, Oregon, where world champion Lilian Odira had got the better of her.

By the time she raced in London, the bandages had finally gone, even if the after-effects were still being felt.

She said after her London success: “Heading into Prefontaine (Classic in Eugene) I had a fight with a metal grate.

“I was just cooling down after training. There was a metal mesh on the floor to stop people slipping, and there was a corner sticking up. I tripped up and my knees went straight into it.

“It took chunks out of both knees; it wasn't pretty at all.

“They finally feel good. I took the tape off earlier this week, which is a positive. It was unfortunate timing, but there wasn't much I could do about it. I've just had to deal with it and get through it.

“It's probably given me a bit of perspective. Sometimes it's just about enjoying it, relaxing, and having fun. That's when I perform at my best. I just want to run freely and see what happens.”

With some newfound perspective and fully healed knees, Hodgkinson is ready to remind everyone that she is this country’s biggest athletics star and the 800m is her domain.

Novuna is the Official Finance Partner of British Athletics and proud sponsor of the GB & NI Athletics Team. From everyday goals to world-class dreams, Novuna backs the ambition of millions across the UK — from supporting British businesses and individuals’ plans, to powering British Athletics on the global stage. Find out more at www.novuna.co.uk