Olympic champion Keely Hodgkinson has revealed that her only experience of a traditional job was a brief stint working for her father's metal fabrication company, which she described as "horrible". The 24-year-old, who won gold in the 800m at the 2024 Paris Olympics, has spent her entire career focused on athletics.
Hodgkinson's Factory Work
In a quickfire Q&A with BBC Sport, Hodgkinson said: "Fun fact: I've actually never had a normal job. I worked for my dad but I don't think that counts. But other than that, I've just been running track my whole life." Expanding on her experience, she added: "He owns a metal fabrications company, so it was actually working in the factory. Like bending metal, punching holes in metal. It was real labour, I did not enjoy it, it was horrible."
Return to Winning Ways
Hodgkinson returned to form by winning the 800m at the London Diamond League meeting on Saturday, after a difficult outdoor season that included back-to-back second-place finishes in Stockholm and Eugene, and a bad fall before the latter event. Despite eyeing the longstanding world record, she fell short of the 43-year-old mark. She clocked 1:56.21 to hold off Netherlands' Femke Broeders-Bol.
Mixed Emotions and Future Plans
Reflecting on her performance, Hodgkinson told BBC Sport: "I think I'm going to take the positives that it's been a tough couple of weeks. Not everything always your way and goes to plan. The only reason I came here today was because I wanted to run in front of a home crowd, so I'm happy to get that out the way, go to the European Championships next and we just build on from here."
Skipping Commonwealth Games
Hodgkinson has decided to miss the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow to manage her workload ahead of the European Championships in Birmingham and next year's World Championships. She said: "I love competing in front of a home crowd but it's such a busy year with Europeans and the Worlds and I've done that many championships before in a year and it is a lot. I just had to decide on which one was best for me but I'll definitely be supporting."
Josh Kerr Breaks Mile Record
In London, Josh Kerr broke the men's mile record with a time of 3:42.66, surpassing Hicham El Guerrouj's mark that had stood since 1999. Kerr became the seventh British athlete to claim the record and the first since Steve Cram in 1985.
