Keely Hodgkinson has given an insight into her personal life following commenrs made by the chief of World Athletics
This Saturday at the London Stadium, Keely Hodgkinson has her sights set on further glory. Fuelled by the disappointment of a painful injury sustained at a Diamond League event earlier this month, the 24-year-old is preparing to challenge Jarmila Kratochvilova’s long-standing world record in the women’s 800m.
With a resume that includes an 800m gold medal from the 2024 Paris Games and another gold from this year’s World Indoor Championships, it would be entirely understandable if one of the sport’s most decorated figures let the global fame go to her head. Yet, the British runner remains incredibly down-to-earth.
Her refreshing lack of ego has not gone unnoticed by the sport’s elite. World Athletics president Sebastian Coe has frequently commended Hodgkinson for her humble, unpretentious attitude, a sentiment perfectly aligned with the athlete’s own recent reflections on what keeps her firmly rooted in reality.
Opening up to Runners World, Hodgkinson was asked how she keeps her status from going to her head, and her response shows the star’s true colours when it comes to modesty.
She said: “I would say friends and family. I think it’s so important who you have around you – they influence what you believe and who you become. So I have really great friends and amazing family. I love them very much. And I just like spending time with them, not talking about anything to do with what I do, just being Keely the daughter, the sister, the older sister.
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“My sisters have very different lives from me and I like going into other people’s lives and just doing normal things. I also pick up hobbies – every month I try to learn something new. Currently it’s kick-ups. Every time I’m in the gym with the boys, we’re always kicking a football around, and I just thought, I really want to do an “around the world”. So that’s this month’s hobby.
“Over the years I’ve had piano lessons, tried to learn a language, even DJ’d at one point. I’m fascinated by trying to experience everything.”
She went on to say: “I think it’s cool to have skills and do other things to see what else you like. When I was injured last year, it did get me thinking about what I’m going to do when I retire.
“Nothing can really replace the feeling of what we do, but I’m hoping that when the time rolls around, that I get to finish on my terms and I’m ready to step away. That would be amazing, but at some point I’ll have to figure out what I’m going to do with the rest of my life. So if you see me in Ibiza, you’ll know it was the DJing!”.
Coe, who clinched 1500m gold at both the 1980 and 1984 Games before masterminding London 2012, featured on the UNTAPPED podcast where he was quizzed about Hodgkinson.
He said: “What I love about Keely is she is probably the most, forget athletics, she’s probably the most authentic person I currently know.
“What you see with Keely is what you get. She is very funny, she’s totally driven, but she puts things in perspective. I was up in Manchester not that long ago and I bumped into her one night going into a restaurant.
“I was on my way out. I’d sort of done the early shift and she turned up and it was her birthday. It was a couple of weeks… I mean she’d only just broken the indoor world record.
“She was only literally a few days away from destroying the field and winning her world indoor title and she was just out celebrating her birthday. She’s just completely normal, but she is incredibly well talented. She’s got a great coaching team around her.
“I’m probably going to lose whatever fan base I’ve got left in the south of England, but she’s absolutely rooted to the north of England and that for me counts for a lot in life.”
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