Keely’s Hodgkinson, a Wigan native, won the Olympic 800m title at the Summer 2024 Games in Paris. She was immediately hailed by many as the “golden girl” of British sport. Hodgkinson already had lucrative deals with global brands such as Nike and Omega, and experts predicted after the event that she could earn as much as £1million a year in endorsements alone before the 2028 Games in Los Angeles.Fast forward 14 months from Paris and Hodgkinson is reeling from a year she has candidly described as a ‘s***show’, sparking concerns she may be in danger of following other successful athletes – such as Emma Raducanu – in failing to fully capitalise on her success. Hodgkinson has had a season to forget. The 2024 Olympics track and fields gold medalist for Britain, she is unable to capitalize on her success. She had been struggling with a hamstring issue not long after the Games and suffered a tear of the muscle shortly before she was due to return for a world record attempt at her own event, the Keely Klassic in Birmingham in February. Keely Hodgkinson has endured a ‘s***show’ of a year since her triumph at the Olympics Hodgkinson’s triumph in Paris in the summer of 2024 saw her crowned the golden girl of British sportHodgkinson then had two significant setbacks – including one she blamed on sitting in a car for too long on her way to collecting an MBE to recognise her Olympic success in May.Hodgkinson was still the one to beat in the 800m at the World Championships in Tokyo last month – despite racing just twice this year and only making her first appearance since Paris at a meeting in August – but could only manage third place, a result she looked visibly disappointed by.She was again struggling, this time with her back and a stomach bug, when she ran at the event in the Japanese city.Before heading to Tokyo, Hodgkinson admitted she’d had a ‘challenging’ year, and the second injury ‘definitely broke my heart a little bit’. ‘I was very down after that one,’ she added.Hodgkinson’s enforced break from the track spanned 376 days, the bulk of which was spent trying to return to action.She told The Guardian that people assumed she was doing nothing. “And when you are in a bad situation, you notice negative comments more.” Human brains are naturally drawn to negativity and what other people think even if it is so far away from reality. I like the block option. This is my favourite. Hodgkinson became a more famous performer even when she wasn’t performing, which put her under a lot of pressure. She appeared on The Jonathan Ross Show in February and then dazzled the BRIT Awards with her daring look on the red carpet. Hodgkinson stunned fans recently with a bold new brunette look last week, rocking deep chocolate curls But she quickly opted to ditch her bold new brunette look, switching back to blonde The Olympic champion, 23, captioned a post ‘Jungle Barbie’ as she revealed blonde is back She remains one of Britain’s most famous female athletes. She no longer remains under the radar. She is scrutinised in everything she does. She even made headlines in New York earlier this month when she changed her look. City The athlete captioned her bikini picture with the words: “Fish are friends” as she sipped on a drink.’Three days earlier, the typically blonde Hodgkinson had cruised to a first-place finish with a time of one minute 56.53 seconds at an all-women’s meeting, and was duly rewarded with the spoils of her victory by tennis legend Serena Williams and a tiara worth around £22,000.She then stunned fans in a white bikini and a braless, see-through dress after sharing pictures of a holiday to the Maldives last week.The athlete captioned her bikini picture with the words: ‘Fish are friends’ as she sipped on a drink.She also shared a video of herself wearing a very see-thorugh red dress which she wore without a bra while taking on the viral trend ”Throwing a Fit’ trend.The trend involves the person saying: ‘Sorry I’m late, I was throwing a fit…’ before introducing ‘the fit’ and showing off their new outfit.Her social media activity is not for everyone and has led to criticism from people who think her focus should purely be on the track. Hodgkinson recently posted pictures of her holiday in the Maldives, including posing in a white bikini She also shared this picture of herself wearing a very see-through red dress while posing with her friends It looked like everyone was having a lovely time on the trip, enjoying the sunshine and drinking cocomuts While that may be unfair, it nonetheless feels ever so familiar. Raducanu went through a similar experience after she became a global star in just a few weeks, following her US Open victory as an 18-year old unseeded in 2021. But the British tennis star, now 22, may be able to offer Hodgkinson a model of how to not proceed after such a career defining success.She said, ‘I am grateful for the opportunities and experiences I have had but was not prepared.”I always worked hard but I don’t think I was prepared enough for the other things, which take energy from you.'”I’m more organized now, I think. I will say: “Okay, we have an hour where we’ll talk about business.” The rest of this week I will be training. I also think I have learned to say no more.”At first, I felt terrible for disappointing others. I’d do anything extra to please my partner, the magazine I work for or whoever I am shooting for. Hodgkinson is compared with Emma Raducanu. She has struggled to maintain her fame since winning the US Open in 2021 at age 18. I would fit it into my schedule. I would practice in the morning, and then play that afternoon.There are also other parallels. Like Hodgkinson Raducanu had her share of injuries and struggled to cope with the demands that come along with being a “celebrity athletes”.
2025-10-26 08:55:09
Inside Keely Hodgkinson’s ‘s***show’ of a year: Britain’s Olympics golden girl is raking it in with sponsor deals – but is Emma Raducanu-style fall a fear after struggles on the track?
