Keely Hodgkinson's Nike speed suit: why it's good for athletics

Keely Hodgkinson finished her 2026 season on Friday 18 September by winning the 800m at Athlos London in 1:56.40, a meeting record. Most of the talk afterwards wasn't about the time, though. It was about what she was wearing: an all black, full length Nike speed suit with a hood, an open back and a gap for her ponytail.

Kit that looks this different always splits opinion. We think it's a good thing for athletics, and here's why.

What she wore

Nike made the suit for Hodgkinson alone, developing it with her over around six months and testing it in a wind tunnel and on the track. It has very few seams and no zips or fastenings, with small 3D printed pieces placed across it to cut drag. There's shaping at the knee for movement, and openings at the back and under the arms to help keep her cool.

"Honestly this has been like a year in the making with all the adjustments and fittings," she said after the race. She'd trained in it in South Africa in 37 degree heat, and said it "feels like I'm wearing nothing".

The athlete had the final say

The detail that tells you most is the hair. Nike's testing showed she'd be slightly slower with her ponytail out, because of the extra drag. She kept it out anyway.

"The science was like technically with the air drag you're slower with your hair out, but I was like, 'that's a non-negotiable. My hair is staying out'," she told reporters. She described her approach as "look good, feel good", a balance between the mental and the physical.

That matters more than it might sound. In 2024, Nike's women's kit for the US team at the Paris Olympics was criticised by athletes who felt it had been designed with little thought for the women wearing it. This is the opposite: kit built around what the athlete wanted, including a choice that made it a fraction slower. Performance kit that athletes are comfortable and confident in is good for everyone.

It got people talking about a women's 800m

Athletics struggles for attention outside the big championships. A late season meeting at StoneX Stadium in north London wouldn't usually make the sports pages. This one did, with coverage from Sky Sports, ESPN and Yahoo as well as the athletics press, and every one of those stories led on a woman running two laps.

Athlos is an all women meeting, and Hodgkinson took home $65,000 for the win. A moment like this is exactly what the sport needs: something a casual fan shares, which gives them a reason to watch the next race.

The win was hers, not the suit's

It's fair to ask how much a suit can do over 800m. Nike says the design reduces drag, but Hodgkinson won by more than two seconds. Valentina Rosamilia was second in 1:58.75 and Rénelle Lamote third in 2:00.15. Whatever the suit is worth, it wasn't the difference on the night.

It rounded off a season with real highs and lows. She broke the world indoor 800m record and won the world indoor title early in 2026, before a hamstring injury disrupted her summer. The weekend before Athlos, she finished second to Audrey Werro in Budapest in 1:56.26. She also admitted the new kit made her nervous: "I was a little nervous, walking out," she said, adding that her sunglasses helped her "block out the noise".

It isn't new, and that's the point

Hodgkinson pointed to Cathy Freeman, who won 400m gold at the Sydney 2000 Olympics in a full body hooded suit. "This is the updated new version, with the new technology," she said. More than 25 years on, Freeman's suit is still one of the most recognisable images in the sport. Moments like that stick, and they make young athletes want to be part of it.

Technology that starts at the top also tends to reach the rest of us. Carbon plated racing shoes went from elite races to club runners' kit bags within a few years. Hodgkinson called the suit "a mixture of fashion, speed and science all coming together, for maybe the future of athletics potentially."

What it means at club level

You don't need a one of a kind Nike suit to take something from this. Feeling comfortable and confident in what you're wearing matters at every level, and especially for teenage girls, who are more likely than boys to drop out of sport. In competition, most club events still ask you to race in your registered club vest, but when it comes to how kit is designed, the athlete's voice is getting louder.

If Hodgkinson's run has got someone at home interested in the 800m, the best next step is a local club. Our guide to finding and joining an athletics club covers how, and choosing athletics spikes covers the one bit of kit worth getting right early. Hodgkinson's own club is Leigh Harriers, so if you're nearby, start with the athletics tracks in Greater Manchester. Athlos itself was held at Barnet Copthall, now StoneX Stadium.

The bigger picture

A suit won't decide many races. What this one did was put an athlete's own choices front and centre, get a women's 800m in front of people who don't normally follow athletics, and give the sport an image people will remember. That's a good end to anyone's season.

Sources: Athletics Weekly, ESPN and Nike.