She became the golden girl of the Paris Olympics when she achieved an incredible victory in the women’s 800 meters.
However, Keely Hodgkinson has admitted that “running itself is horrible”, but she took up the sport because “she likes to win and be competitive”.
The gold medalist, 22, revealed that she never “fell in love” with the sport, but rather knew she was “talented” and had the “mental ability to push herself” to be the best.
talking to Sunday weather style magazineKeely said: “I don’t think I ever fell in love with it, I just knew I was good at it.” I love feeling healthy and good, but training is horrible, it’s painful, I don’t love that.
‘I just know that I have the mental capacity to overcome that and try hard because I know I have talent there.
Keely Hodgkinson has admitted that “running itself is horrible” but she took up the sport because “she likes to win and be competitive.”
The gold medalist revealed that she never “fell in love” with the sport, but rather knew she was “talented” and had the “mental ability to push herself” to be the best.
‘And I enjoy winning and being competitive, I love thinking I’m going to win. But running itself is horrible, let’s be honest. You get out of breath a lot. I’m tired all the time.’
The Atherton runner won the women’s 800m final to claim the first Olympic gold of her career, breaking the British record set by Dame Kelly Holmes 20 years ago.
He crossed the finish line with a time of 1:56.72, almost half a second faster than silver medalist Tsige Duguma of Ethiopia with 1:57.15.
By winning gold, she made history by becoming the first British competitor to win athletics gold at this year’s sporting event.
Elsewhere in the interview, Keely revealed the reason she will never date another runner again after splitting from her British runner boyfriend, who lived abroad, in January after three years together.
She admitted that the long distance between the couple ended up destroying their relationship, since she was always going to “put her running first” and they would go “weeks or months without seeing each other.”
Discussing whether she would date another athlete again, she said: “It has its pros and cons, the cons being that you don’t know when you’ll see each other.” If you have an argument, you resolve it over FaceTime: you can’t go see them or get on a train because they could be on the other side of the world. But you understand the commitment.
Keely added that she is now happily single and “not really interested” in dating because she is “too busy.”
Keely became the golden girl of the Paris Olympics by achieving an incredible victory in the women’s 800 meters.
She said: ‘I love feeling healthy and good, but training is horrible, it’s painful, I don’t love that.’ I just know that I have the mental capacity to overcome that and try hard because I know I have talent there.
And she added: “And I enjoy winning and being competitive, I love thinking that I’m going to win.” But running itself is horrible, let’s be honest. You get out of breath a lot. I’m tired all the time
In August, Keely announced that her season is over after suffering a knee injury during training.
The British star was due to run over 400 meters in Berlin that week, her first competition since winning Olympic gold in the 800 meters in Paris.
Keely was then scheduled to compete at the Diamond League meetings in Zurich and Brussels in early September.
However, he will now not compete again this year after suffering a minor setback on his return to the track following his brief post-Olympics break.
Mail Sport understands Hodgkinson has suffered a tear to the outside of her knee, a smaller version of the injury that ruled her out of the indoor season in the winter.
“No more racing for me,” Keely wrote on Instagram. ‘Unfortunately, I suffered a small injury, but we achieved everything I expected this year.
‘Thank you for all the love and support. See you on the track next year.”
Her coach Jenny Meadows added: “I’m disappointed we didn’t finish things in more style as we still have the energy and motivation for it, but it hasn’t been a bad season.”
Elsewhere in the interview, Keely revealed the reason she will never date another runner again after splitting from her British runner boyfriend, who lived abroad, in January after three years together.
Keely was unbeaten in the 800m this year and retained her European title in Rome in June before winning her first world gold medal at the Paris Olympics.
She also reduced her British record to 1 minute 54.61 seconds, taking her to sixth place on the all-time list.
Keely’s next big event could be the European Indoor Championships in Apeldoorn, Netherlands, in March, followed by the World Indoor Championships in Nanjing, China, later that month.
