Keely Hodgkinson may be the most motivated of the medals, but the 20-year-old athlete knows that running records – and enjoying the competition – will help her reach them.
“I want to take as many medals as possible from my career – I think that’s how you become one of the greatest in history”, said the British athlete Keely Hodgkinson. “The records are really good, but they don’t always last, so I think medals are the place where you can really make a difference and make a name for yourself in history”, added she.
Keely Hodgkinson is the British record holder in the 800m indoors and outdoors. At the Tokyo Olympics last year, she ran 1:55.88 min for the silver medal. This winter she set an indoor record for her country after running by 1:57.20 min in Birmingham. It was the fastest 800m indoor run in 20 years.
The next goal of the 20-year-old Briton is a gold medal at the World Indoor Championships in Belgrade, where she will start in the 800m and in the relay at 4x400m.
“My favorite thing is to compete in championships when there is a little pressure and more betting. I like going out there and doing what I know I can and leaving with medals. That is the goal”, said Keely Hodgkinson.
Keely Hodgkinson is an English athlete specializing in the 800m. At the age of 19, she won a silver medal at the Tokyo 020 Olympics, breaking the British record set by Kelly Holmes in 1995. Both Hodgkinson’s Tokyo result and her junior indoor mark, which was the first British women’s world under-20 record for 36 years, are European U20 records, making her at 800m the fourth-fastest and the second-fastest under-20 woman of all time respectively. In 2021, she became the Diamond League champion, the youngest ever women’s 800m European indoor champion as well as the second-youngest British holder of the European Athletics Indoor Championships title. In February 2022, she set the British 800m indoor record, placing her sixth on the respective world all-time list.
