World Athletics president and Team GB legend Seb Coe has shared his true thoughts on British athletics superstar Keely Hodgkinson, describing her as the most authentic person he knows. The four-time Olympic medallist recalled a chance meeting with the 800m phenom while she was celebrating her birthday.
Hodgkinson's Rise to Stardom
Hodgkinson, now 24, has quickly become the face of British athletics. She won her first Olympic gold in dominant fashion at Paris 2024 and set a women's world indoor 800m record in February. Her personal best of 1:54.61 was achieved at the London Diamond League in 2024. She also claimed her first world indoor title in Torun in March, adding to her 2024 BBC Sports Personality of the Year award and the MBE she received for her services to athletics.
Hodgkinson continues to capture public admiration with her down-to-earth persona, and fellow Olympic champion Coe could not help but heap praise on the Greater Manchester-born track star.
Coe's Comments on the UNTAPPED Podcast
Appearing on the UNTAPPED podcast, Coe said: "What I love about Keely is she is probably the most, forget athletics, she's probably the most authentic person I currently know. What you see with Keely is what you get. She is very funny, she's totally driven, but she puts things in perspective."
He recalled: "I was up in Manchester not that long ago and I bumped into her one night going into a restaurant. I was on my way out. I'd sort of done the early shift and she turned up and it was her birthday. It was a couple of weeks… I mean she'd only just broken the indoor world record. She was only literally a few days away from destroying the field and winning her world indoor title and she was just out celebrating her birthday. She's just completely normal, but she is incredibly well talented. She's got a great coaching team around her."
Coe added: "I'm probably going to lose whatever fan base I've got left in the south of England, but she's absolutely rooted to the north of England and that for me counts for a lot in life."
Future Prospects
Hodgkinson has been experimenting with shorter distances and will begin her 2026 outdoor season at the Rome Diamond League in June. Her coach, Jenny Meadows, admitted that breaking the longest-standing record in track and field is on the long-term agenda. Jarmila Kratochvilova's women's outdoor 800m world record of 1:53.28 has stood since July 1983, while Hodgkinson's best is 1:54.61.
Meadows told Athletics Weekly: "I think we're just desperate to see that 1:53 first before we try and go down to the 1:53.28. Because she has those months now of consistent training this winter, she's hitting outdoor times indoors, and it just makes me really excited. I think she will be running those 1:53s that she's so desperate to run. Whether it's 1:53.28, we'll see, but it was in London in 2024 that she saw 1:54 on the clock for the first time and now she's really looking forward to that moment when she sees 1:53 on the clock."
