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' on the eve of the world championships in Tokyo. Coe, who won two Olympic 1500m gold medals and broke nine world records, spoke with authority, particularly on the 800m event in which he held the world record for 18 years.
When asked if Hodgkinson, Olympic gold medallist in Paris, could become one of Britain's greatest athletes, Coe was emphatic. 'Yeah, she absolutely could,' he said. '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. She is absolutely committed to wanting to end her career top of the heap and there's no reason why she shouldn't.'
Coe praised Hodgkinson's coaches, Trevor Painter and Jenny Meadows, for her recovery from hamstring and back issues. The 23-year-old ran 1min 54sec in Silesia in August, her first race in 376 days, followed by a 1:55 in Lausanne four days later. 'You have to marvel at how she has come back,' Coe said. 'To be out injured and then basically your first step foot on the track and you're running 1:54.' He noted that her back-to-back races were a clever test of her endurance ahead of Tokyo.
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.' Coe expressed confidence in Gout's support team, including his female coach Di Sheppard and manager James Templeton, but cautioned against early medal expectations. 'It will be a huge learning curve for him,' Coe said. 'He's probably at this moment too young to be afraid.'
Coe also addressed concerns about a potential typhoon in Tokyo, stating that World Athletics has full meteorological prediction teams in place. 'First of all, let's hope there isn't one,' he said. 'Second, we do have the full meteorological prediction and predictive teams out there at the moment.'
