Olympic champion clocks meet record of 1:55.69 ahead of Audrey Werro and Georgia Hunter Bell at Diamond League on Wednesday

Racing in only her second race of the year after a hamstring-related injury lay-off, Keely Hodgkinson did not manage to run quite as fast as her season debut in Poland last weekend but she nevertheless looked strong and sharp as she clocked 1:55.69 at the Diamond League in Lausanne, Switzerland, on Wednesday (Aug 20).

The run in Lausanne comes four days after her impressive season opener at the Diamond League in Silesia, Poland, where she ran 1:54.74.

Here in Switzerland, in wet and cool conditions, she ran almost a second slower but it was still a meeting record, wiping Maria Mutola's 1:56.25 from 2002 from the books.

Runner-up Audrey Werro of Switzerland clocked 1:57.34 as Hodgkinson's training partner, Georgia Hunter Bell, was third in 1:57.55 after Werro passed her in the closing metres.

Pacemaker Eveline Saalberg went through 400m in 56.04 with Hodgkinson a stride or two behind. Like the race in Poland, Hodgkinson hit the front and began to draw away down the back straight as she went through 600m in 85 seconds.

At this stage Prudence Sekgodiso was still just about in contact with the Briton but the South African would later pay for it in the final 200m by fading to sixth in 1:58.76.

Hodgkinson is now expected to go back into training ahead of the World Championships in Tokyo next month, unless she can be tempted to race in Zurich in a week's time.

"When the pace goes like that, you just forget about everyone else," said Hodgkinson, "and it paid off with a solid performance. I couldn't have asked for a better start this season."

For Hunter Bell, this race will surely help her decide whether to target the 800m or 1500m in Tokyo.

READ MORE: Keely's killer session

Earlier in the evening, Ethan Hussey won the men's 800m B race in Lausanne in 1:45.80 with fellow Brit Alex Botterill third in 1:46.17.

Full results here