In 2021, Keely Hodgkinson headed off to Greece for a ‘wild’ summer holiday with her pals. Some online commentators saw this as evidence that she was a ‘huge party girl’. In response, Hodgkinson says: ‘Well, I was 19 and I’d just won a silver medal at the Olympics – what did you expect?!’
The refreshingly frank runner might head into the Paris Games as a favourite who already has a medal (she keeps it in a drawer at home, FYI), but in some ways this feels like her first time at the iconic competition. Tokyo in 2021, delayed a year by Covid, was where Hodgkinson got on the podium for her 1 minute, 55.88-second 800 metres (beating the British record set by Kelly Holmes before she was born). The stadium was ‘absolutely huge, but very eerie,’ she says. ‘I think this one will be completely different. I’m looking forward to having the whole Olympic experience.’
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Now 22, Hodgkinson grew up in Atherton, a small town near Manchester, where she started running at the age of nine. The 2012 London Olympics inspired her to stick at it and she nailed her first national title at 15. She trains twice a day and says mental fortitude is as important to her as physical strength. ‘I know the more I suffer in training, the easier the racing becomes,’ she says. Her goals aren’t easy, but they are simple: ‘I always say I’d like to do better than I did last year, whether that’s mentally, emotionally or physically, with a medal.’ And she believes ‘comparison is the thief of joy’.
‘You can’t get overly bothered about what everyone else is doing. I think that’s good [to remember] in every aspect of life, whether it’s how you look or what job you have – if you’re just comparing, you’re going to be miserable.’ Although she thinks she’s good at separating the personal from the professional, she admits athletes are not immune to life’s ups and downs. ‘Managing that alongside training can be difficult, especially in your early twenties,’ Hodgkinson says. ‘There are a lot of life changes going on!’
A fashion fan who’s looking forward to exploring Paris’s vintage boutiques, she is also proudly upholding the track tradition of glamour (think Flo-Jo’s nails) in the stadium. ‘I get ready for a track meet as if I’m going out. It’s like a stage; you’re preparing to perform,’ she says, adding that ‘I spray on the perfume – always got to smell good.’ Currently on rotation? Mai- son Francis Kurkdjian’s Gentle Fluidity.
Certainly, the Olympics is the biggest stage of all. Hodgkinson knows it’s a ‘great opportunity’ for popularising women’s sport, but she would love to see people following it year-round. She is passionate about communicating the power of athletics to young girls in particular. ‘We tend to have a big dropout rate, and in the teenage years it’s hard. Athletics is hard. But there can also be so much enjoyment in it.’ What advice would she give to those who might be inspired by her this summer? ‘Just go at your own pace and don’t have too high expectations. As long as you get out the door, it doesn’t matter what pace you go at or how long you go for – the key is just starting.’
AALIYAH POWELL - TAEKWONDO FIGHTER
The way Aaliyah Powell puts it, Taekwondo is a sport that requires brains as well as brawn. ‘Obviously, it’s a fight – someone’s trying to kick you in the face, and you’re trying to kick someone else in the face,’ she says, laughing. But it’s far from just that. ‘I like fighting cleverly, being able to impose tactics and strategy. That’s what I love about taekwondo.’ She also praises the sport for its accessibility (‘a few pads to kick about in and you’re good’) and diversity. ‘It’s very inclusive. We’ve always had a powerhouse girls’ and women’s team.’
Powell first tried the martial art when she was nine, at a free taster session. Something about it immediately ‘clicked’ for her; at her first- ever class, an instructor told her: ‘If you carry on, you’ll be world champion one day.’ That’s certainly her goal. Born in Huddersfield and based in Manchester, she got her first medal at a senior World Championship when she was just 16. ‘I was very young, and had success very rapidly,’ she says. ‘There was an element of growing up quickly.’ Now 21, Powell has the kind of philosophical outlook uncommon in people twice her age. ‘You can’t control everything,’ she says. ‘I can now go with the journey more and enjoy the process, not just the end results.’
B-BOY KID KARAM - BREAKER
'I can't wait to get on a big stage again,' says Karam Singh, who was seven when his desire to perform was ignited after a head- spinning dancer in a Justin Timberlake music video caught his attention. ‘One day, I’m going to do that,’ he told his younger siblings. That ‘one day’ came serendipitously quickly; the following week, he saw a breakdancing crew performing at a charity event in his hometown of Derby.
As soon as he could – at the age of eight – he joined their classes. Today, Singh is better known as B-Boy Kid Karam and is Team GB’s first-ever breaker (participants prefer ‘breaking’ to ‘break dancing’). ‘It’s been a hell of a journey,’ he says. Not just for him, but also for the sport, which has its roots back at block parties in 1970s New York. This summer, breaking makes its debut at the Olympics. What does it mean to him? ‘It will be a part of history. I’ve always wanted to be the best in the world.’
NIA WEDDERBURN-GOODISON - SPRINTER
Nia Wedderburn Goodison does everything fast. She is a very fast runner (a two-time European under-18 champion), obviously. But she also talks ten to the dozen, and is an impressively speedy typer, something she dis- covered thanks to her unusual pre-competition ritual: playing a words-per-minute typing game. (‘I just do it to make myself feel like I’m mov- ing quickly,’ she says.)
So it’s somewhat ironic that the one piece of advice the 19-year-old from Willesden would give budding athletes is about the importance of taking one’s time: ‘Patience is the key. Don’t get disheartened too easily – you’re not always going to have a great season or a great race,’ she says. ‘You just need to believe in yourself.’ She hopes athletics will ‘get a lot more attention’ in the years between Olympic summers, and her ambition now is to break into the senior GB team.
She certainly has the laser focus to do exactly that. ‘When I put on the bodysuit, it just feels like I’m ready to go. It’s kind of like my superhero costume,’ she says. ‘I don’t tend to get too nervous. If I prepare well, then I know I’m going to perform well.’
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