At the Paris 2024 Olympics, anything can happen and no one should be underestimated, said the main favorite for the 800m title in Paris – Keely Hodgkinson. The British track and field athlete finished second in Tokyo aged just 19 after breaking the national record in 1:55.88 min.
The record for Great Britain was held for 26 years by Kelly Holmes.
“Anything can happen, don’t just focus on the medalists (from Tokyo and the last tournaments). Some people who are ranked further back can also spring a big surprise, which is the beauty of athletics”, said Keely Hodgkinson. “Things generally depend on how you perform on the day. There are a lot of good things happening in British athletics and in this team I see people with talent and mental stability. We have high hopes for finals, we have high hopes for medals”, added she.
Keely Hodgkinson, a Manchester United soccer fan, broke the British 800m record during a race in London last week with a time of 1:54.61 min. It is the sixth fastest time in the history of track and field. She took silver medals at the last two world championships and earned second place at the 2022 British Commonwealth Games.
Keely Hodgkinson became the heavy favorite for gold at Paris 2024 Olympics after it emerged in June that Olympic champion Athing Mu had failed to make the final United States team. Only the American finished ahead of Keely Hodgkinson at Tokyo 2020.
“I’m not going to say that (the title – BC) doesn’t cross my mind. What happened last weekend will help my confidence, but there’s still a lot of time before the races. I don’t feel any pressure and I’ll take it start by start until the final. I’m happy with my form and it’s the culmination of hard work over the years”, continued the British athlete. “Although I have won too many silver medals, I am grateful to be among the favorites for the title in Paris. It is these silver medals that prove that things don’t always go your way. I just hope this year I do enough and everything goes well smoothly”, added she.
