The moment we’ve all been waiting for has finally come, as Atherton’s Keely Hodgkinson has won a gold medal at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games in the women’s 800m final. Keely ran the women’s 800m final in an astonishing 1:56:72, taking her to victory over Tsige Duguma of Ethiopia and Mary Moraa of Kenya who came second and third.
The 22-year-old has been running her whole life, starting her professional journey at local Leigh Harriers, and has finally claimed an Olympic gold medal after being frustrated by silver in consecutive Olympics and World Championships.
Her top position on the podium has been a long time coming for Keely, and having recently broken Dame Kelly Holmes’ 800m record, running 1:54.61 in the London Diamond League, perhaps we should’ve seen this coming.
Instagram post from @teamgb
Keely also surrounds herself with winners, too, being school friends with Manchester United and Lioness midfielder Ella Toone, having grown up in the same area, so perhaps there’s something in the water… we can’t stop producing sporting legends! These are some of the best young athletes we have, and what a treat that they’re women from our neck of the woods.
Keely fought her way to the final over the weekend, smashing her heat and semi-final, coming first in both. Keely’s gold medal adds to Team GB’s medal total of 12 golds, 13 silvers and 17 bronzes, taking us into fifth position, with the People’s Republic of China reigning at the top with 53 overall.
Instagram post from @manutdwomen
The top 10 in the current medal leaderboard is as follows:
- People’s Republic of China − 53
- United States of America − 77
- Australia − 32
- France − 45
- Great Britain − 42
- Republic of Korea − 26
- Japan − 26
- Italy − 26
- Netherlands − 16
- Germany − 15
We just want to say a huge congratulations to our very own Keely Hodgkinson having finally bagged herself that Olympic gold − this is just the start!