Keely Hodgkinson secured her status as Team GB’s golden girl by becoming only the third British woman to win the 800m by taking gold at the Paris Olympics.
The 22-year-old dominated the final in Paris to end her wait for a first world title by beating Ethiopian Tsige Duguma and long-time rival Kenyan runner Mary Moraa.
The victory made Hodgkinson only the 10th British woman to win an Olympic athletics gold medal, and the first since Jessica Ennis-Hill in 2012, and the medal ceremony gave her a chance to celebrate the sensational success.
Hodgkinson’s inspirational Olympic gold puts her in esteemed company, with the world number one emulating the achievements of Kelly Holmes in 2004 and Ann Packer in 1964.
Now, former Team GB heroes have given their verdict on Hodgkinson’s victory and what the rising star can expect next.
Keely Hodgkinson secured her status as Team GB’s golden girl by becoming only the third British woman to win the 800m.
Hodgkinson dominated the 800m final in Paris on Monday to win his first world title
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DAME KELLY HOLMES: People were peering out of their windows to see me after Athens… I hope athletics queen Keely is ready to feel like a pop star!
Keely is probably not prepared for what will happen to her after that fabulous run to win gold in the 800 meters.
I may be biased, but track and field has always been the biggest sport at the Olympics, and Keely handled that pressure, as well as being the favorite and the fastest woman in the world this year over the distance.
All hopes were pinned on Keely and she delivered, becoming only the third British woman to win Olympic gold in the 800m (and I was the most recent, in 2004!).
Keely was well-known and respected, but unless you were a track and field fan you wouldn’t necessarily have understood the calibre of athlete she is before Monday. She’s a new name to a lot of people, but with the profile of the Olympics and the sport, she will be catapulted into a new sphere.
In general, athletes don’t like celebrities, but they do like to be known for what they have done in their sport. Winning Olympic gold will change the way people see Keely.
She is going on holiday now, but I don’t think Keely knows the kind of attention she and her family will receive when they return to the UK.
Hodgkinson lived up to her status as pre-race favourite and won a brilliant Olympic gold
Dame Kelly Holmes (left) spent time with Hodgkinson before the Games began.
Holmes became a two-time Olympic gold medal winner in track events at the 2004 Olympics.
When I came home from Athens as a double Olympic champion in 2004, people were stopping on the motorway and looking out of their windows and cars. It was like I was a big pop star. It was crazy and I thought people had gone mad.
Keely is going to get that double benefit because social media has come into play, whereas when I was an athlete it wasn’t like that.
She just has to keep her feet on the ground with her friends and her family and the people who have been with her since day one. That’s the most important thing.
Holmes’ success in Athens earned him a meeting with Queen Elizabeth II at Buckingham Palace.
I’ve been telling her that she needs a very strong team behind her and that she should take everything as it comes, but she also has to enjoy the moment.
I hope he celebrates when he gets home… and he better invite me to the party!
ANN PACKER: They said the 800m wasn’t for women in my day… imagine saying that to Keely!
Congratulations to Keely. It was simply fantastic. Despite all that pressure, she delivered and proved that she was in a different class.
It’s been 60 years since I won the gold medal in the 800m and that was a different life for me. We’ve seen Kelly Holmes win and now Keely has stepped up again. I loved watching it.
If I think back to Tokyo in 1964, I actually went there to compete in the 400 meters.
That year I had competed as the fastest in the world and broke the Olympic record in the first two rounds, but lost in the final to the best girl of the day, Betty Cuthbert of Australia.
Ann Packer won team gold for Great Britain in the women’s 800 metres at the 1964 Tokyo Olympics.
Packer (middle) admitted there were people who didn’t believe the 800m event was for women in her racing days.
The 800m started the next day and I think I had only done a few races over that distance, maybe two, so I didn’t have high expectations. I had no idea about tactics, but I knew I had done a good sprint and I wanted to try it. I actually broke a world record in the final and it was a wonderful moment in my life.
The 800m was a new event at the time. There were people who thought it wasn’t for women, that they sweated and puffed too much. Imagine if they tried to tell Keely that now! What a star she is!
Winning that gold medal seemed to have meant a lot to her and to me as well. It was a different time in the sport, but we were very committed. I was a teacher at the time and would come to the track before school to train, but the athletes were not treated the same way. That was just the way it was.
Hodgkinson will now receive numerous endorsement deals following his gold medal success.
I remember when I won I had promotional work for Heinz – “Golden Girl, Golden Beans” – and Bovril.
It wasn’t like it will be today, but I was very happy. Bovril’s sponsorship helped me and my husband (the late Robbie Brightwell, who was captain of the British athletics team) to furnish our house.
The prizes on the circuit outside of the Olympics were very different: I won various tea sets, saucepans and Pyrex dishes! I’m pretty sure it will be different for Keely and I’m very happy for her.
She is a beautiful runner and makes it all look easy, but we all know that a lot of work has gone into making it happen. She really was a one of a kind runner and I am beyond happy for her.
