Keely Hodgkinson has been a star of the observe ever since she burst onto the scene in 2021, however the Olympic 800m champion has needed to overcome a number of obstacles away from sport
Olympic gold medalist Keely Hodgkinson has had a whirlwind journey since profitable hearts in Paris final summer time.
The 23-year-old grew to become an in a single day sensation after her gorgeous victory within the 800m occasion. Since then, she’s maintained her standing as an athletic powerhouse, having first made waves with a silver medal win on the Tokyo Video games in 2021.
The Mancunian secured silver on the World Indoor Championships in 2022 and clinched her first senior out of doors gold on the European championships in Munich later that yr. Since then she’s been on a trajectory that has seen her scoop the BBC Sports activities Persona of the Yr award final yr.
As her movie star rises, Hodgkinson has additionally been noticed at occasions such because the Brit Awards and Components 1’s 2025 launch. With the Olympian now getting ready for the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo this September, Mirror Sport takes a more in-depth have a look at her life off the observe.
Mind tumour scare
Behind her exceptional accomplishments lies a narrative of resilience. Hodgkinson has bravely shared particulars a few harrowing expertise with a tumour that resulted in partial deafness in a single ear, reviews Wales On-line.
“It crushed by my listening to bones and it was simply touching my backbone,” she instructed Sky Sports activities in 2024. “So the danger for the operation was to take it out or hold it in.
“For those who hold it in and let it develop, it may hit the backbone and I might find yourself with Facial Palsy. Now that was fairly scary for a 13-year-old lady to suppose that would occur, however the bones have been already crushed anyway in order that they tried to save lots of them however that turned out why I had a number of listening to issues rising up.”
She revealed a protracted operation meant she missed a month of college as a baby. “I could not stroll – which is bizarre to suppose – as a result of it is in your ear, your steadiness and issues like that,” she mentioned. “However fortunately all of it went to plan. They removed it and I am simply left with lacking listening to. It isn’t too unhealthy.”
Break up from her boyfriend
In an October 2024 interview with The Sunday Instances, the middle-distance champion candidly disclosed that her three-year romance got here to a finish in January. Her ex-boyfriend in query was reportedly a fellow runner who lived overseas.
Hodgkinson acknowledged that the geographic separation finally spelled the tip of their relationship. “Lengthy-distance killed it,” she mentioned. “He was residing in Texas after which Italy, and with my schedule, we might go weeks with out seeing one another. It was powerful.”
She additionally revealed that she was now single, including: “I am probably not concerned about courting proper now. I’ve by no means been on the apps. I like assembly individuals in actual life.”
Heartbreak
The observe star admitted that she was “heartbroken” after her plans to try to smash the world indoor 800m report in February this yr have been left in tatters.
Hodgkinson was dealt a devastating blow after struggling a hamstring tear forward of the Keely Klassic in Birmingham, a meet named after her.
“Issues actually got here collectively effectively and simply on the final second, it is sadly been taken away,” she mentioned to Sky Information. “That is in all probability why this occurred. An excessive amount of velocity and the muscle tissues cannot fairly take it but. Every year I am getting stronger and stronger,” she said. Her sights are actually firmly set on shattering the 42-year-old world report, set in 1983 by Czech athlete Jarmila Kratochvilova.
“I stay up for having that as a extremely massive goal and seeing how briskly I can go,” she mentioned. Together with her eyes on the prize, she’s desirous to get better rapidly and return to her dominant kind in Tokyo this Autumn.
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