KEELY Hodgkinson shocked the world in 2021 when she won silver at the Tokyo Olympics at just 19, before going one better at Paris 2024 and bringing home gold. She has emerged as the favourite to win BBC Sports Personality of the Year 2024 — here's everything you need to know about the champion runner.
![[Keely Hodgkinson was a shock silver medallist at the Tokyo Olympics]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/2021-athing-mu-united-states-670633923.jpg?strip=all&w=960)
Keely Hodgkinson was born in 2002 in Atherton, a town located near Wigan. She hails from a running family, with her mother Rachel being a former member of athletic club Leigh Harriers. Her father Dean has also run the London Marathon in the past. Keely soon showed an aptitude for sport, joining her mum's Leigh Harriers running club aged nine, while also swimming for the Howe Bridge Aces.
![[She won the silver aged just 19]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/image_c643b1.png?strip=all&w=620)
Aged 10, she made an impression at the British Schools Modern Biathlon Championships in London. She finished second in the 500m running event and eighth in the swimming 50m — it was after this that her father encouraged her to focus full-time on running.
![[Three years later she went one better at Paris 2024]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/gold-medalist-keely-hodgkinson-team-956858421-1.jpg?strip=all&w=960)
In 2015, when Keely was just 13, she had surgery to remove a tumour in her ear, which threatened to disrupt her running career. The surgery was successful, but left her 95 per cent deaf in the affected ear — during her recovery she was unable to train for a significant period of time.
![[Keely competed in the Tokyo Olympics during her 'gap year']](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/2020-tokyo-olympics-breaking-british-914220680.jpg?strip=all&w=960)
Aged 16 she won the England U18 and U20 800m, she also won the European U18 800m gold, breaking the championship record in the process. By 2019, Keely had transitioned from indoor to outdoor events and won the British outdoor title aged 18, becoming the youngest to ever do so.
![[She is favourite to win SPOTY 2024]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/keely-hodgkinson-attends-bbc-sports-914220659.jpg?strip=all&w=646)
