How SPOTY favourite Keely Hodgkinson became one of Britain’s best-loved athletes
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The 22-year-old is favourite to win BBC Sports Personality of the Year at Tuesday night’s ceremony after storming to Olympic glory in Paris this summer. Keely Hodgkinson was already a world-class athlete long before that sticky August night inside the Stade de France when she streaked clear to claim Olympic glory. And yet it is a mark of the Games’ unique power that even an elite 800m runner can have their life changed by winning that first Olympic title. With gold came more recognition, more opportunities, more strange encounters in ordinary life.
![[Keely Hodgkinson celebrates her Olympic 800m win]](https://static.independent.co.uk/2024/12/12/06/d01f683e3b3bfe4c8cacc53562b2c296Y29udGVudHNlYXJjaGFwaSwxNzMzOTM0NTEz-2.77072509.jpg)
“I was pottery painting in a little cafe in Sale, that was random,” she says, pondering some of the oddest moments of her post-Paris era. “Some woman came in and was like: ‘Are you the runner?’”. A more glamorous encounter came when she was flown out to Milan Fashion Week in September, courtesy of Armani. “The trip was absolutely amazing,” she beams. “They flew me out and I sat in the front row at the fashion show. We had lots of dinners, I got to meet him, Giorgio Armani … He came over to me and he put his hand on my cheek and called me ‘Bella’, which I thought was really nice. He can’t speak English but he’s quite into his sport. It was just quite funny because he’s just this powerful, small man. He’s a lot older now, he’s 90 years old, but he looks great.
![[Keely Hodgkinson with her Olympic gold medal]](https://static.independent.co.uk/2024/12/09/07/5a27f19f7c3e8cec4e5e190ee8bdc441Y29udGVudHNlYXJjaGFwaSwxNzMzNzc2MDU1-2.77079919.jpg)
