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Keely Hodgkinson knows that she will never experience the lack of pressure she enjoyed at her maiden Olympics but is embracing the tag of favourite at Paris 2024 this summer.
The middle-distance star announced herself to the world in Tokyo three years ago, taking silver over 800m and breaking Dame Kelly Holmes’ British record while still just a teenager.
Although it was not a total shock, Hodgkinson admits that in 2024 she finds herself in a very different situation, having followed up that with two more silvers on the world stage in each of the last two summers. Throw in the sixth-fastest women’s 800m time in history at the London Diamond League meet just before the Olympics and the expectations are suddenly stratospheric.
Hodgkinson said: “I feel like this is going to be my proper Olympic experience. Last time with Covid, they did an amazing job putting it on. But now, with the crowd, I think it’s going to be a proper experience, so I’m really excited.
“It really did change my life. The Olympics is something that resonates with the majority of the public, so it’s just really special to perform well there.
“It’s a different pressure this time. I was very upcoming, that position I was in, I’ll never have that again. The freedom of being there for the experience and it didn’t really matter what I did. I knew what I could do.
“Now, we’re three years later, I think I’m a better athlete than I was then but now there is that expectation. I’ve medalled every year now so it’s a case of can we do it again? Can we go one better?”
Her cause has been helped by Tokyo gold medallist and 2022 world champion Athing Mu, who is three months younger than Hodgkinson, missing out at the US Olympic trials.
Where Hodgkinson was able to skip the 800m at the UK Championships, having already clinched a place in Paris, the Americans have a cutthroat selection policy where only the top three at their trials can go to the Olympics.
So when Mu was clipped and fell during the race, her Olympic hopes evaporated. Rather than count her blessings, Hodgkinson is disappointed to miss out on the chance to take on her rival, while also admitting that suffering a similar fate is something of a preoccupation.
She said: “Unfortunately Athing is not going to be in Paris this year. I was very gutted about that. If it was me, I’d be devastated, it’s not nice to see that happen. Even though she’s not there, it’s still so hard to achieve, it’s just one less person to worry about. It’s going to be difficult but it’s the Olympic Games, anything can happen.
“With races like that, I’ve had my heels clipped a few times. It makes you wary that just because you are the best, that doesn’t mean that it can’t happen to you. It was very unfortunate, so you just have to keep your wits about you. 800m and 1500m are two of the messy races for that, people getting on top of each other, piling up, so you just have to stay out of trouble. Sometimes you can’t control it, so you just have to hope the luck is on your side. It does cross your mind sometimes, what if I fall over? But hopefully not!”
In many ways, it appears that Hodgkinson’s progress has been almost all highs, settling for the odd silver medal rather than gold, notwithstanding. But the 22-year-old admits that the aftermath of her Olympic debut was not easy and took a while to come to terms with.
She added: “I’ve shown how mentally strong I can be. After Tokyo, the Olympic comedown is a real thing. That was quite tough, being so young and having so many aspects of my life change. I didn’t go to university anymore, I went full-time pro. I moved out, got my own place, all these changes you go through anyway.
“And then you think I’ve got to do what I did last year again, for a whole year, finding that motivation. I now know this time around that I’ll be better equipped to handle that. I also want to enjoy it, I’m back to really enjoying it again. If I get to that final and give it my all, I’ll be happy.
“After Tokyo, there was no pressure on me. The only thing I didn’t want was to be a one-hit wonder, who just got it right then. I wanted to prove not just to myself but to everyone else that I could be a multiple medallist. Here we are, three years later, with a lot more medals so it’s good fun!”
The pressure might have changed but Hodgkinson’s potential remains sky-high. Now she has a gold medal to go and get.
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