The pressure on GB Athlete Keely Hodgkinson, 22, is immense. Should Hodgkinson win the women’s 800 metres on Monday night, she will undoubtedly become Team GB’s star of the Games and one of the most recognisable sportswomen in the country.
For those who don’t know, the middle-distance star won silver in the 800m at the Tokyo Olympics three years ago, breaking Dame Kelly Holmes’ British record while still just a teenager.
Since then, she’s added two more silvers at successive World Championships and, just a few weeks ago, won gold at the London Diamond League meet – breaking her own British 800m record.
Now, the expectations are super high ahead of the athletics starting at the Olympic Games in Paris. But who is Keely Hodgkinson, and what do we know about her?
1. Keely grew up in Atherton, near Manchester
Keely grew up in Greater Manchester and started running at the age of nine at Leigh Harriers. Early on, she fell out of love with athletics and switched her focus to swimming. Yet, seeing British heptathlete Jessica Ennis-Hill win gold at the 2012 London Olympics changed everything for the then-schoolgirl – and she returned to running.
2. Keely is school friends with Lioness star Ella Toone
Keely and Ella Toone have been friends since meeting at Fred Longworth High School in Tyldesley, Greater Manchester, where they used to do cross-country and football together.
‘She was two years older than me but somehow we just ended up getting on really well,’ Hodgkinson said after qualifying for the Commonwealth Games 800m final.
‘I was always referred to as the ‘mini Ella’ growing up at school. So we kept in touch from that and she was in Tokyo last year as well. We are just two young girls living their dreams.’
3. Keely proudly upholds the track tradition of glamour
‘I get ready for a track meet as if I’m going out,’ she told Elle UK. ‘It’s like a stage; you’re preparing to perform. I spray on perfume – always got to smell good.’
Her current fave? Maison Francis Kurkdjian Gentle Fluidity.
And at the Diamond League, Rimmel did her makeup for her (she’s just signed a deal with them).
4. She studied at Leeds Beckett University
Keely briefly studied at Leeds Beckett University. She still maintains a strong connection with the university, continuing to receive specialised strength and conditioning coaching from Dane Mitchell. This ongoing weekly training helps her refine her skills and stay at the top of her game.
I’m sorry that facts make you vomit. Self-evidently, if you don’t win a race, you lose it.
And Keeley lost to someone the same age as her.
But great to see her break the British record and I hope she now works even harder & wins Gold at Paris in 2024. https://t.co/YRJsDJ3gtm— Piers Morgan (@piersmorgan) August 3, 2021
5. Keely is bubbly, fun and sharp-witted
During the Tokyo Olympics, Piers Morgan took to X (formerly known as Twitter) basically arguing that second place is the ‘first loser’ and earning a silver medal shouldn’t be celebrated.
Keely chose not to respond directly, except to tweet ‘*Keely’ pointing out his misspelling of her name.
‘She is a breath of fresh air,’ her agent Dale King-Clutterbuck, the co-founder of Forte Talent Group, told Mail Sport. ‘She is straight-talking and really funny. She is a generational talent, she is the best in the world, sixth fastest ever, and she is easier to work with than talent that are nowhere near her level.’
6. She’s more Louis Vuitton than adidas
Keely is known as a bit of a materialistic fashionista. ‘She’s walking around here with Coco Chanel sunglasses and her Louis Vuitton handbag,’ says Trevor Painter, Keely’s performance coach. ‘The Team GB people keep saying, “It’s not adidas’ but she’s just like, “I don’t care!”. The handbag goes everywhere with her.’
7. She’s always late
Hodgkinson does have one characteristic that annoys her friends and family – tardiness. ‘Sometimes it’s 20 to 25 minutes late and she just strolls in smiling, “Whatever”,’ says Painter. ‘But if we contain her, put her in a box and tell her she’s got to conform to this, she’ll not be the person we saw run 1:54 in London. That kind of free-spirited nature makes her who she is.’
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