William Hill make Keely Hodgkinson a 2/1 chance for 800m gold behind Switzerland's Audrey Werro, and are offering 9/1 for the Olympic champion to win gold and break the world record in the same race.

The women's 800m first round gets under way at Alexander Stadium on August 10 and while the serious business of qualifying for the semi-finals is the immediate task at hand, the bookmakers have already been busy working out what a vintage week for Keely Hodgkinson might be worth.

William Hill have priced Hodgkinson at 2/1 to win gold, which makes her second favourite behind Switzerland's Audrey Werro at a skinny 4/7. Femke Broeders-Bol, the former 400m hurdler from the Netherlands, is next in the betting at 5/1, with the rest of the field grouped together at 28/1 or bigger.

It is Werro's season that explains the odds-on price. The 22-year-old ran 1:53.80 in Paris in June, moving to within half a second of Jarmila Kratochvílová's 43-year-old world and European record of 1:53.28 and sitting comfortably clear of the rest of the European rankings this year. Hodgkinson, by contrast, has her own 1:54.33 from this season to point to and arrives as reigning Olympic champion.

Should Hodgkinson win gold and lower the world record in the same race, the odds are 9/1 – a bet that would presumably prompt a rapid rewrite of her 20/1 odds for BBC Sports Personality of the Year too, if William Hill's spokesperson Lee Phelps is to be believed.

"All eyes will be on Keely Hodgkinson at the European Athletics Championship in Birmingham this week as she bids to not only reclaim her 800m crown, but write herself into the event's history books," Phelps said. "Although Switzerland's Audrey Werro is the odds-on favourite to take gold, Hodgkinson is a close second in the betting at 2/1 and may set her sights even beyond simply winning."

Whether any of that is decided this week will depend on how the rounds unfold. Both Hodgkinson and Werro should have straightforward passages through their heats, and barring any surprises, expect the two of them – along with Broeders-Bol – to be lining up in the final having barely had to get out of second gear along the way.

Behind the market leaders, there is strength in depth for those hoping for an each-way surprise. Anaïs Bourgoin has been in good shape this year while France also field Rénelle Lamote and Clara Liberman inside the top eight of the European rankings.

None of it, of course, is a guarantee of anything – bookmakers make their odds from probability, not certainty, and an 800m rarely goes to script. But with Hodgkinson back to something like her best and Werro's season-long form the standout storyline of the European rankings, the idea of a genuine world record showdown in Birmingham is not the fanciful marketing line it might read as. It might just be worth the 9/1.

Odds correct as of August 10 and courtesy of William Hill – European Athletics Championships women's 800m gold medal winner and Keely Hodgkinson to win gold & break the 800m World Record.