26 Facts About Keely Hodgkinson

Keely Nicole Hodgkinson was born on 3 March 2002 and is an English middle-distance runner.

Keely Hodgkinson won the gold medal in the 800 metres at the 2024 Paris Olympics.

Keely Hodgkinson proceeded to win silver medals at several championships; the 2022 and 2023 World Championships, as well as the 2022 Commonwealth Games.

Continentally, Keely Hodgkinson went one step higher, becoming a two-time European champion from 2022 and 2024 and a two-time European indoor champion from 2021 and 2023.

Keely Hodgkinson was made an MBE for contribution to athletics in the 2025 New Year Honours.

Keely Hodgkinson was born on 3 March 2002 in Atherton, Greater Manchester, and brought up there.

Keely Hodgkinson graduated from Fred Longworth High School in Tyldesley and Loughborough College in Leicestershire.

Keely Hodgkinson is a lifelong Manchester United fan, and she went to the same school as Manchester United women and Lionesses player Ella Toone.

Keely Hodgkinson was invited to Old Trafford after winning Olympic gold in 2024.

Keely Hodgkinson joined Leigh Harriers at the age of nine, "winning county championships in 800m, 1200m, 1500m, and cross-country races", but initially swam with Howe Bridge Aces Swimming Club before devoting herself fully to running.

Keely Hodgkinson first made an impression aged barely 10, in 2012.

From that point, Keely Hodgkinson won many age-group titles and minor medals, culminating in her winning at age 16 European Under-18 and England U20 titles, and, after an injury-affected winter, European U20 bronze a year later.

Keely Hodgkinson rebounded the following year, in 2017, when the then 15-year-old raced the 800 metres already in the U17 age category.

Keely Hodgkinson improved her PB further with a time of 2:01.73, when ending her season in Rovereto, Italy three days later.

Keely Hodgkinson obliterated by exactly two seconds previous best set by Ethiopia's Meskerem Legesse in 2004.

Keely Hodgkinson placed second in her heat and then won her semi-final with the fourth-fastest time of the semis.

Keely Hodgkinson broke Kelly Holmes' 26-year-old British record of 1:56.21, beating the European U20 best dating back to 1978.

Keely Hodgkinson established the British record, all-comers' record, the fastest ever mark by a teenager, and the sixth-fastest indoor mark of all time.

Keely Hodgkinson then continued competition in the Diamond Race, winning in Eugene behind the pond, Oslo, and coming home second behind Kenya's Mary Moraa in Stockholm.

Ahead of the World Athletics Championships in Eugene, first year seniors Mu and Keely Hodgkinson looked favourites, though the latter was fourth on the season's outdoor top list.

Keely Hodgkinson got her 2023 campaign off to strong start on 28 January on the home turf of Manchester.

Keely Hodgkinson took victories in Torun again, Lievin in France and Tour Final in Birmingham, where she slightly improved her own UK indoor record with 1:57.18.

Keely Hodgkinson dedicated the win to her first coach in athletics, Joe Galvin, who had died a few days earlier.

Keely Hodgkinson then lost to often unpredictable Moraa at the Lausanne Diamond League in Switzerland, and took her fourth British title.

Keely Hodgkinson's win came despite Hodgkinson suffering from an illness.

At the 2024 Paris Olympics, Keely Hodgkinson clinched the gold medal in the women's 800m final with a time of 1:56.72.