Tokyo 2020: Who is Keely Hodgkinson?

After winning a silver medal for the women's 800m, Keely Hodgkinson's seems to break records whenever she sets foot on the track. And at the young age of 19, she's not slowing down!

Who is Keely Hodgkinson?

Keely is a 19-year-old English athlete who was born in Wigan in Greater Manchester.

She specialises in the 800 metres and has just won a silver medal for Team GB competing in the Olympic Games in Tokyo, running alongside teammates Jemma Reekie and Alex Bell.

The teenager is currently in her first year of university at Leeds Beckett studying criminology.

How many medals has Keely won and how many records has she set?

On 30th January 2021, Keely set the world under-20 indoor record running 800m in 1:59.03 sec in Vienna.

She won gold at the European Indoor Championships in Torun in Poland just four days after her 19th birthday, becoming Britain's youngest gold medalist since 1970.

Taking her talent to Tokyo, the 19-year-old finished behind the USA's Athing Mu and also broke Dame Kelly Holmes' long-standing national record on Tuesday.

Hodgkinson, who competes for Leigh Harriers, ran 01:55.88 to beat Holmes' record which had stood since 1995.

Her blistering pace makes her the eighth fastest woman over 800m of all time.

Who supports Keely Hodgkinson?

Hodgkinson is not funded by British Athletics as it did not add any more athletes into the World Class Performance Programme in 2020 due to the pandemic.

She is instead supported by millionaire businessman, Barrie Wells, who has helped fund athletes in the past, including Jessica Ennis-Hill and Katarina Johnson-Thompson for the London 2012 Olympics.

Wells had promised her the chance to drive an Aston Martin if she had made the final.