Keely Hodgkinson Exceeds Expectations as Rising Star in British Athletics

World Athletics president Lord Coe is convinced “real deal” and newly crowned BBC Sports Personality of the Year Keely Hodgkinson has already ascended to British great status.

Hodgkinson surged to surprise 800 metres silver at the postponed Tokyo 2020 Olympics before meeting expectations as the favourite to claim her first Olympic gold in Paris this year.

The 22-year-old has, since Tokyo, twice collected silver at world championships, and will look to go one step further at the 2025 worlds next September in Japan.

“She’s there,” said Coe, when asked about Hodgkinson’s status in the British pantheon. “She’s there. You don’t win a Europeans and an Olympics and effectively smash a national record that has stood for a long time, and finish number two on the ranking list in the world, without being there.

“I think the question is how long will she be able to maintain that, from being so relatively young in doing that?

“But, yeah, she’s up there. I would be hard pushed to place any female athlete significantly above her in the history of our sport in the last 50 years.”

Hodgkinson ran a personal 800 metres best of 1:54.61 at the London Diamond League meet in July, still some way off Jarmila Kratochvilova’s world record 1:53.28.

Asked if the Briton would be capable of going under the Czech athlete’s 41-year-old marker, two-time Olympic 1500 metres champion Coe replied: “I’d love to see that for all sorts of reasons, actually.

“I’d love to see it because I think she’s the real deal. She’s already going to finish her career with something I never managed, which is an Olympic title at 800. I tried it twice, so I take my hat off to her.

“Look, a second is a lot in athletics, it’s a huge gap, but I just think she’s got the scope and the ability, and she’s got the coaching structure as well.

“She comes from a very good endurance base, and she is what I would describe as a slightly old-fashioned 800-metre runner, and that may be helpful.

“I’m also probably going to get a massive post bag on this, but I think it also helps that she comes from the northern athletics tradition, which does understand the nature of cross country, and real endurance-based athletics.

“So I think she can make that. I think she can bridge that gap, but I don’t kid myself.

“One second, in reality, is a distance. But I think she’s got the scope and the capability, and she’s certainly got the coaching structures.”

Coe was quick to point out that it was someone from athletics, middle and long-distance runner Christopher Chataway, who was crowned the inaugural Sports Personality of the Year winner in 1954.

The current World Athletics chief won it himself in 1979 – before claiming Olympic gold in Moscow and Los Angeles – and was twice a runner-up, while Sir Mo Farah’s turn in 2017 was the last time someone from athletics took home the prize.

Asked what impact the win might have for Hodgkinson, Coe replied: “I don’t know what the viewing figures are right now but it’s not going to hurt her.

“The fact that there’s conjecture and people are talking about her and (were) talking about the sport in the lead-up can only be a good thing.”

(Independent)