Sebastian Coe has predicted that Keely Hodgkinson could end her career as one of the greatest athletes of all time, while describing 17-year-old Australian sprinter Gout Gout as the ‘real deal’. The comments come on the eve of the world championships in Tokyo.
Coe, a two-time Olympic 1500m gold medallist who broke nine world records, said of Hodgkinson: ‘Yeah, she absolutely could. I’ve no doubt about that. Absolutely, for sure. And she could end up at the top of the heap internationally if she goes on. I’ve spoken to her enough times to know that mentally she’s mahogany hard.’
The World Athletics president also praised the 23-year-old’s coaches, Trevor Painter and Jenny Meadows, for guiding her back from hamstring and back injuries. Hodgkinson ran 1min 54sec in August in Silesia, her first race in 376 days, followed by a 1:55 in Lausanne four days later. Coe noted: ‘You have to marvel at how she has come back… The only caution I would counsel is sometimes you’re so keen to get back into competition that you almost perform above the level of endurance… What I thought was quite clever was doing two races back-to-back.’
Turning to Gout Gout, who has run a wind-assisted 9.98sec for 100m and 19.84 for 200m, Coe said: ‘At 17 I was probably just about qualifying for the inter-counties… He’s an outstanding athlete… Clearly he is the real deal.’ However, Coe cautioned against burdening the teenager with medal expectations in Tokyo, calling it ‘a huge learning curve’.
Coe also addressed concerns about Typhoon Tapah, which caused flight cancellations in Hong Kong, insisting World Athletics has ‘the full meteorological prediction and predictive teams out there’ to ensure readiness.
