Keely Hodgkinson's next target revealed after Olympic hero's SPOTY glory
Share:
Keely Hodgkinson’s coaching team say they cannot rule out the newly-crowned BBC Sports Personality of the Year breaking athletics’ longest-standing world record as soon as next year. The 22-year-old collected a surprise 800 metres silver at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, then claimed gold in Paris this summer with the weight of the world’s expectations on her shoulders. Hodgkinson posted a personal best of 1:54.61 at the London Diamond League meet in July but will have to find another gear to beat Czech athlete Jarmila Kratochvilova’s 1:53.28, which has stood for 41 years.
“I wouldn’t rule (2025) out,” Trevor Painter, who alongside life and coaching partner Jenny Meadows runs M11 Track Club, told PA. Painter and Meadows were awarded Coach of the Year at the BBC ceremony on a triumphant evening for the married couple, who also coached British Paris Olympic bronze medallists Georgia Bell and Lewis Davey. Painter added: “Next year might be too soon, because it’s a big leap and there’s not many people at 1:54 let alone 1:53, but with the advances in shoe technology and the advances in track technology, and the advances in our growth as a team and as a unit and pushing Keely, then yeah.
“I mean, if the right race happens and she’s feeling in the right mood on that day, then there’s no reason why it couldn’t happen, but the next three to four years, we’ll be trying our best to make that happen and become that world record (holder).”.
Meadows, who thinks 2026 might be a better target, added: “We’re definitely nudging our way towards it. A couple of years ago we would never have been looking at that world record thinking it was possible, but now you start getting a little bit giddy and excited, but trying to be realistic at the same time.
