Keely Hodgkinson makes generous offer to Prince William after meeting with royal
Keely Hodgkinson, who won gold in the women's 800m at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, was presented with an MBE by the Prince of Wales at Windsor Castle on Tuesday
Keely Hodgkinson graciously extended an offer to provide athletics guidance to Prince William and his children if they ever desired it. The Team GB athlete was bestowed with an MBE by the Prince of Wales at Windsor Castle on Tuesday, a moment she deemed a "real honour."
Given her recognition for her contributions to athletics, she didn't hesitate to propose sharing her expertise with the younger royals should they wish to pursue a similar path. Recounting her conversation with Prince William during the ceremony, Hodgkinson told BBC Sport: "He [Prince William] said he remembered me winning last summer, and then my coach said that his kids are into athletics so I said that if he needed any tips he knows where to go."
The gesture underscores the 23-year-old's kindness and humility, as she thought of others even on a day dedicated to celebrating her own accomplishments. After joining Leigh Harriers at just nine years old, Hodgkinson clinched numerous county championships in the 800m, 1200m, 1500m, and cross-country events, all while balancing middle-distance running with swimming for the Howe Bridge Aces.
However, she soon committed fully to track events, a decision that has yielded impressive results. Fast-forward to 2025, and Hodgkinson boasts an enviable collection of medals - gold at the European Championships, European Indoor Championships, and Diamond League 800m events, alongside silver medals from the 2022 Commonwealth Games and World Championships in 2022 and 2023, reports Aberdeen Live.
Yet, none of these achievements compares to the ultimate prize: Olympic gold. Hodgkinson claimed the medal at the 2024 Games in Paris. Building on her silver medal in the 800m at Tokyo 2020, she delivered a showstopping performance in the French capital, crossing the finish line in 1:56.72 - a hair's breadth ahead of Ethiopia's Tsige Duguma.
Post-race, Hodgkinson said: "Yeah, I was just so focused on getting to that line, and I knew I'd be strong in the last 100m. I knew they'd be coming, I knew they'd be close because they are really talented and great girls, so it's great to compete with them.
"The stadium was incredible. The crowd was awesome. I felt like it was a home champs for me, so it was just great to experience it.
"So many GB flags, the crowd literally was incredible. And I saw people I knew on every corner, so many friends and family that had come out here, so really special."
Hodgkinson has been out of the racing scene since her triumphant Olympic victory last year, having suffered a hamstring injury in February during preparations for her Keely Klassic event in Birmingham. Yet, she's set to make a comeback at the Diamond League meet in Stockholm this June.
The women's 800m race is expected to be a star-studded affair with all eight of the world's top-ranked runners lining up, including Duguma, who was narrowly defeated by Hodgkinson for the Olympic gold. Reflecting on her time away from competition, Hodgkinson said: "I feel out of practice in a way, because by the time I do race, it will be 10 months.
"But it's nothing we haven't coped with before. It will be a challenge, the first race will be a nerve-wracking one because my last race I literally became Olympic champion. But I'm excited for it."
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Nevertheless, if all goes to plan, that will all change this week and no longer will the four-minute barrier seem unbreakable for women. Firstly, the scale of the challenge must be laid out. The current women's world record for the mile is 4 minutes 7.64 seconds, set in Monaco in 2023 by Kenya's Faith Kipyegon, the woman who will attempt to break the four minute barrier in Paris, in the coming days. Other than Kipyegon, no woman has ever run under 4 minutes 12 seconds for the mile, highlighting just how sizeable a challenge targeting sub-four actually is. Given Kipyegon's current best time is nearly eight seconds slower than she'll need to run this week, it means she will have to drop two seconds a lap to go sub-four. That's an astonishingly large chunk of time. But there is evidence, or certainly the suggestion, that it is possible for a woman to run a sub-four minute mile. That it is Kipyegon who will be making the attempt is a given; she's the only woman modern-day or historical, who has what it takes to get near the four minute mark, never mind break it. The Kenyan is a phenomenon. She's one of the greatest female athletes to have ever lived; she's a three-time Olympic gold medallist over 1500m, has four world titles and is the current world 1500m record holder and so Kipyegon's athletic capabilities are beyond question. Faith Kipyegon is a three-time Olympic champion (Image: Getty Images) She has stated her reason for this sub-four attempt is that she has, in short, achieved everything else there is to achieve in her sport. 'I achieved the world record, the Olympic record, Olympic medals, and World Championship Medals,' she said. 'I was like, 'what else can I achieve?' It's a reasonable question. Aiming for sub-four and achieving it, though, are two entirely different things. There has been much scepticism about Kipyegon's, or any other woman's, ability to run sub-four. Commentators have suggested she's living in 'la-la land' to think it's possible, and even Elliot Hill, the CEO of Nike, which is coordinating and organising the record attempt, has called it a 'moonshot'. In theory, however, it's possible. A study, the results of which were released earlier this year in the Royal Society Open Science journal, concluded that a woman, namely Kipyegon, can absolutely break the four-minute barrier. There are caveats, though. Signifiant caveats. Kipyegon's run will have to be closely managed if she has any chance of getting close. Masterminded by Nike and entitled 'Breaking 4', it's in the same mould as Eliud Kipchoge's 'Breaking 2' project, which saw him dip under 2 hours for the marathon in 2019. Just as Kipchoge's marathon run wasn't deemed 'legal' in terms of setting an official world record, neither will Kipyegon's run be classed as an official world record if she does, indeed, better her current mark. It's estimated that to go sub-four minutes, Kipyegon, will have to make use of aerodynamic drafting, new shoe technology and lightening-quick pacing. When running the current mile world record, she was on her own for the last 600m having dropped the rest of the field and so she's likely to shave a couple of seconds off her time purely by having pacers with her for the entirety of the race. Kipyegon will be wearing the most up-to-date super shoes, will potentially be wearing a 'speed suit' and has a three-day window for the attempt to ensure as close as possible to perfect weather - the attempt is pencilled in for Thursday but Friday and Saturday are also viable alternatives if the weather initially doesn't play ball. While these factors may shave fractions off Kipyegon's time, it's the pacing of her run that will be by far the most significant factor. Her pacers will either be male and so will be able to maintain sub-four pace relatively comfortably, or will be female but will switch in and out as the race progresses. They will be strategically positioned with one pacer just over a metre behind Kipyegon and one just over a metre ahead of her to ensure optimum drafting potential. In addition, there will be pacing lights around the Paris track. Despite the aides Kipyegon will make use of in her attempt next week, the majority of observers remain pessimistic that she will succeed in running sub-four. Certainly, logic suggests that cutting over seven seconds off her previous best (and the world's best) is too large a drop to be realistic, particularly given that middle-distance world records are typical broken by fractions of a second rather than whole seconds at a time. And Kipyegon, at 31 years of age, might perhaps be on the plateau of her career rather than still on the upward curve - she has not set a personal best since 2023. None of the scepticism, though, should deter Kipyegon from trying. At the time of Bannister's attempt 71 years ago, most said it was fanciful that he would succeed in going below four minutes. Of course, he did, in the face of the sceptics, manage it. Similarly, Kipchoge's attempt to run a sub-two hour marathon was scoffed at, until he managed it, on his second attempt. The unlikelihood that Kipyegon will succeed should not disqualify her from trying. If she manages 4:02 or 4:03, which is far more realistic than sub-four, it will highlight just what a woman is capable of, and will almost certainly embolden her peers - potentially Sifan Hassan, as well as others in the future - to aim for the sub-four barrier. I hope Kipyegon manages to break four minutes next week. But, even if she fails, it's likely we'll look back on this attempt as the first step on the path to what is inevitably coming - a female sub-four minute mile.
