Even when she knew Olympic 800m gold was assured, Keely Hodgkinson’s eyes kept flicking towards the giant screen in the Stade de France, checking for thieves lurking in the Paris night. This time, though, she would not be denied.
As the 22-year-old from Atherton crossed the line there was a sharp thump of the right fist. Then a roar that seemed to extinguish three years of pressure and expectations. And suddenly Britain’s first track and field medal of these Games was hers.
“The first thing you feel is relief, because you work so hard for these four days to go perfectly,” she said. “Then it’s just the excitement after finally something that I’ve had in my head for three years coming together nicely.”
Hodgkinson could have been forgiven for having PTSD, given that she had returned from the Tokyo Olympics in 2021 and successive world championships in 2022 and 2023 with three silver medals. Instead, it fuelled her to be even better.
As the curve of the final bend began to straighten, three women were lurking on Hodgkinson’s shoulder, desperate to leave her walking away clutching silver again. The world champion Mary Moraa was one of them. The world indoor champion Tsige Duguma another. And Shafiqua Maloney from St Vincent was close enough to present a clear and present danger too.
But it turned out that Hodgkinson was playing with them, waiting for the moment to strike for glory. With 100m to go she struck with a force and intensity that left her rivals wading through lactic acid to win in 1 min 56.72sec. Duguma took silver in 1:57.15 while Moraa claimed bronze.
“I had a little cheeky look up at the screen just to make sure,” she added. “But now I am the Olympic champion for the next four years and no one can take that away from me. I can’t believe it. I feel like I have really grown in the last couple of years. The future’s bright. And I am so happy I can bring it home.
“I have worked so hard for this over the last year,” she added. “You can see how much it meant to me when I crossed the line. I can’t believe I have finally done it.”
This wasn’t the way that most expected Hodgkinson to win it. The sense was that the slower the race, the more others would be brought into the reckoning.
However, unbeknown to her rivals, Hodgkinson had entered the race supercharged with confidence. Shortly before the Games, she did the same critical workout she always does before a major final. It was significantly better than anything she had done previously and confirmed she was in shape to run a high 1:53.
And, having spent the day in bed trying to save as much energy as possible, she decided on her strategy: to take the lead after 300 metres, and go from there. Hodgkinson kept it steady as she went through halfway in a modest 58.30sec, but she began to wind it up before powering away to victory.
“I feel like it could have been run in any way,” she admitted. “I wanted to be right up at the front and for it to be probably quicker than it was at the bell. But doing a semi-final and final back-to-back is tough.
“Everyone was tired,” she added. “So I just wanted to save myself for the last 100 metres. I trusted myself. I could feel Mary pushing me on the back straight but I held my composure. I am super happy.
“I was going to make it hard if not but it just didn’t happen that way,: she added. “Probably a bit tired from yesterday. It’s hard, back-to-back rounds. You can’t let that bother you. You have to stay composed. The time doesn’t matter, it’s the medal.”
With this victory Hodgkinson becomes the third British woman to win Olympic 800m gold, joining Ann Packer at the 1964 Tokyo Games and Kelly Holmes in Athens in 2004 in the pantheon.
It also marks a culmination of a journey that began when Hodgkinson watched Jessica Ennis-Hill win heptathlon gold at London 2012 when she was 10. At that age Hodgkinson preferred swimming to running, and while her dad would tell her she was even better on the track, her stubborn side initially resisted.
But when she joined her local athletics club, she discovered she was a natural. And after so many near misses, there was relief that she had finally won gold.
“I had to try to block out the noise,” she said. “A lot of people get into it at the Olympics. To deliver on that stage means everything. It’s such a cut-throat sport. I probably won’t be able to sleep tonight. I’m super, super happy.”
The hope now is that with this win Hodgkinson will catapult into the sporting stratosphere. And that the wider world will get to know someone who her coach Trevor Painter describes as bubbly and a free spirit, someone who often turns up late.
That much was evident at the Team GB training camp for Paris, where she walked around with Chanel sunglasses and her favourite Louis Vuitton handbag. When some staff pointed out that it wasn’t official GB kit, Hodgkinson just smiled and shrugged it off. Just like she did to her opponents on a wild and wonderful night in Paris.