IN FOR THE KEEL

Hodgkinson ready to be best she's ever been after the 'torture' of knee injury

- ALAN SMITH

KEELY HODGKINSON says it was torture to have missed more than two months of early season training because of a knee injury.

But the 800m star believes that time off will prove a "blessing in disguise" as she aims to defend her European title before upgrading an Olympic silver medal to gold in Paris.

The 22-year-old gets her Euros campaign underway in Rome this morning as the heaviest of favourites, with a personal best four seconds faster than the rest of the field.

And having not run a step for nine weeks at the turn of the year, she is ready to "be the best I've ever been".