Keely Hodgkinson: free spirit and cold-blooded killer in super spikes
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The BBC’s Sports Personality of the Year is a driven, self-confident athlete not afraid to stand up for herself. The BBC’s Sports Personality of the Year has long divided opinion – can it really be about personality when Nigel Mansell has won it twice? But however nebulous the criteria for winning, Keely Hodgkinson ticked every possible box in 2024. She was a cold-blooded killer on the track, a free spirit off it: Killing Eve’s Villanelle in super spikes.
![[Sean Ingle]](https://i.guim.co.uk/img/uploads/2017/10/09/Sean-Ingle,-L.png?width=75&dpr=1&s=none&crop=none)
What makes Hodgkinson so interesting – aside from her immense talent – is that she does things on her own terms. The Olympic Games in Paris was no different. In the British prep camp she walked around with Chanel sunglasses and a Louis Vuitton handbag. Several times staff pointed out that it was not official GB kit, but she just smiled and carried on.
![[Keely Hodgkinson crosses the line in Paris to become Olympic 800m champion]](https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/d07de7002e2f610bfce1604f33cc3e763a398fb3/0_191_5726_3435/master/5726.jpg?width=445&dpr=1&s=none&crop=none)
Her confidence manifested itself in a different way in the 800m final in Paris. Conventional wisdom suggested that the faster the race, the greater her chance of victory. Instead Hodgkinson took the lead after 300m and only slowly wound it up, before turning on the turbochargers down the home straight.
![[Keely Hodgkinson looks at the trophy alongside presenters Alex Scott, Gabby Logan and Clare Balding at Tuesday’s Sports Personality of the Year Awards.]](https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/9d60bceaaccb7e6b1a4e0c61170afa72715a976d/0_203_5825_3495/master/5825.jpg?width=445&dpr=1&s=none&crop=none)
It was a moment of glory and sweet dominance. The fact that she had won silver three times in major championships – the Olympics in 2021 and the worlds in 2022 and 2023 – made the step to the highest step of the podium all the sweeter. Victory in Paris sent her into sporting stratosphere, but it was an invitation she received shortly afterwards that made her realise she was now in a different orbit. It came from 90-year-old Giorgio Armani, who invited her to Milan fashion week with several other top Olympians. While there, he pinched her cheek then delivered a one-word exclamation: “Bella.”.
