Keely Hodgkinson has said becoming a poster girl for track and field would be an honour, as her coach called her a “superstar” who is ready to take on golden girl status.
The 22-year-old became an Olympic champion in the women’s 800 metres in Paris on Monday evening, shrugging off the weight of enormous expectations to claim the gold.
It makes her the first British woman to claim Olympic 800-metre gold since Dame Kelly Holmes in Athens in 2004, and the third going back to Ann Packer in 1964.
Teenage skateboarder Sky Brown secured bronze despite a shoulder injury and there was bronze for boxer Lewis Richardson after what he said was a “devastating” defeat in the men’s 71kg semi-final.
Hodgkinson told the PA news agency she was “over the moon” about her success, adding: “You can work so hard sometimes and it all not be executed as well as you like it to be. I’m so happy I finally got my gold medal.”
Hodgkinson, from Atherton, Greater Manchester, has been dreaming of gold since the Tokyo Games where she claimed silver.
She said: “I think it was always an aim by Paris to try and be in a position to upgrade that to gold, and after so many silver medals in a global stage in my sport… this one really meant the most and there’s no better place to do it than the Olympics to upgrade.”
The athlete did not balk when asked if she was aiming for domination in the field, saying: “Why not? Why not aim high, see what else is out there? I still don’t have a world championship gold, so there’s still plenty more to be done.”
On potentially becoming a poster girl for the sport, Hodgkinson told PA: “I think that’s such a privileged position to be in. I’d love for people to see me that way, it’s such an honour.”
Mr Mitchell, who has worked with Hodgkinson for around five years, watched the race on TV from home and was “pretty gutted” not to be in Paris.
The head of strength and conditioning at Leeds Beckett University told PA: “(I am) absolutely over the moon for her, really. So, so proud of her.”
He said one of his first reactions after her race was relief because there had been “so much pressure” for her.
“But I did know, deepest, deep down, I knew that if there was anyone who could cope with the pressure and rise to those big occasions, it is Keely,” he said.
“I knew she would do it, but it’s just brilliant to actually do it, you know, it’s on paper: Olympic champion. It’s still sinking in, it’s incredible.”
“I just really was hoping she executed what she’s capable of and she did,” Mr Mitchell said.
“She really controlled the race. It was a masterclass, really, in tactical racing.
“I was just so pleased when she crossed that line, and just to see her face, I nearly welled up, to be honest.”
The coach spoke a few weeks ago with Hodgkinson’s father Dean, who told him: “We think it’s her time this time round,” and Mr Mitchell said he felt the same.
He has yet to speak to the Olympian, conscious of the whirlwind she will be caught up in, but texted her to say: “Don’t worry about me, enjoy it, and we’ll speak soon.”
“I mean, she was thrust into that in 2021 after Tokyo. At 19, her life changed massively and I know it will change probably again, it will increase in intensity all the opportunities that come her way and things like that but I think she’s ready for it. I really do.
“It sounds cliche, sounds like Louis Walsh, but she literally thinks like a superstar and she looks like a superstar and she performs like a superstar.
“She is a superstar. She already was. She’s made for it.”
Hodgkinson told BBC’s 5 Live Breakfast that she will celebrate her Olympic gold with a glass of wine on the beach when she joins her family on holiday in Marbella in a few days.
She revealed that she was “more of a rose wine girl” than a cocktail girl and said: “I’ll be on the beach at some point having a nice glass of rose wine.”
Her school friend, Manchester United and England footballer Ella Toone, was among those sharing congratulations after her race.
Toone shared a video of herself watching the final on TV, waving her hands in the air and jumping up and down when her school friend won.
“Congratulations Keely, just been screaming at the telly,” she said. “So proud of you, everyone was rooting for you back home, you’ve done us all proud.”
