Keely Hodgkinson has playfully mocked West Ham United after it emerged the club could block London's bid to host the 2029 World Athletics Championships. The Olympic 800m silver medallist took to social media on Tuesday to respond to a story about the dispute, writing: 'The GB team will bring back more medals to that stadium than West Ham have seen in their entire history.'
The row centres on the use of the London Stadium, which is home to both West Ham and UK Athletics. World Athletics president Sebastian Coe wants the championships to be held in September as a finale to the season, but West Ham are unwilling to vacate the stadium for approximately three weeks during the football season. The club has a contractual right ensuring its games take priority during that period.
Hodgkinson, who won gold in the 800m at the World Indoor Championships on Sunday, received widespread support from athletics fans. One described her tweet as 'the tweet equivalent of a two-footed challenge', while another said: 'Just when you thought you couldn’t love Keely any more she comes up with this banger of a tweet.' Some West Ham fans, however, deemed the comment disrespectful.
West Ham secured a long-term tenancy of the taxpayer-funded stadium in 2013, a year after it hosted the London Olympics. Lord Coe, when asked about the deal, remarked: 'I’ve sat on the board of one Premier League club and I’m very close to another one. I think they would have been pretty satisfied with that deal.'
London faces competition from Rome, Munich, Nairobi and an Indian city for the 2029 championships. Final submissions are due by early August, with a decision expected in September. West Ham have won five major trophies in their history, while Hodgkinson has six senior gold medals across Olympic, world and European championships.
