by Keely Hodgkinson’s coaching team say they cannot rule out the BBC’s new Sports Personality of the Year breaking the oldest athletics world record as early as next year.
The 22-year-old won a surprise silver medal in the 800 meters at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, then won gold in Paris this summer with the weight of the world’s expectations on her shoulders.
Hodgkinson clocked a personal best of 1:54.61 at the London Diamond League competition in July, but will need to find another gear to beat Czech athlete Jarmila Kratochvilova in 1:53.28, which has stood for 41 years.
“I wouldn’t rule (2025) out as a possibility,” Trevor Painter, who alongside life partner and coach Jenny Meadows runs the M11 Track Club, told the PA news agency.
Painter and Meadows were named Coach of the Year at the BBC ceremony in a triumphant evening for the married couple, who also coached Britain’s Paris Olympic bronze medalists Georgia Bell and Lewis Davey.
Painter added: “Next year might be too early because it’s a big step forward and there aren’t many people at 1:54 and even less at 1:53, but with the advancements in shoe technology and advancements in trail technology, and advancements in our growing as a team and as a unit and pushing Keely, so yeah.
“I mean, if the right race happens and she’s feeling in a good mood that day, then there’s no reason why it can’t happen, but over the next three or four years , we will do our best to make this happen and become that world record (holder).
Meadows, who thinks 2026 might be a better target, added: “We are definitely moving towards that target. A few years ago we would have never looked at this world record thinking it was possible, but now you start to get a little giddy and excited, while trying to be realistic at the same time.
“Gold is the only currency she wants to work in now, and she has personal goals to win that world title. I think she’s looking at the question like it’s really exciting to know if we could physically achieve a world record next year.
“1:53.28 is still a big, big gap. I know Keely would like to see a 1:53, even if it’s a 1:53.99.
Many Britons now imagine “Queen Keely” Hodgkinson as the radiant athlete wearing the crown she accepted from a fan after her Olympic triumph.
Her coaches saw more shades of a young woman whom Meadows describes as having a “what you see is what you get” personality, a savvy businesswoman with a great sense of humor who “doesn’t try not to be someone she is not.”
Last winter, Hodgkinson lost 10 weeks of running after a debilitating leg injury and was, Meadows recalls: “(At the back of the training group), in tears. I’ve never seen Keely before so…she’s not the crying type. She had to go to very dark places during the winter to return.
A photographer even wondered if she would make it to Paris.
“People saw the highlights, we saw the journey,” said Meadows, who even remembers Hodgkinson’s training buddies saying: “There’s actually something really satisfying and empowering about watching Keely go through these dark moments. It’s not just talent, is it?
Painter and Meadows admit that M11 has been inundated with inquiries from more than 50 athletes, including some “high-profile” names.
Maintaining the right balance of personalities within the group remains essential, potential prospects are therefore directed by the current harvest.
Meadows added: “This is a perfect moment in Keely’s life and a perfect moment in our lives and our careers. When Trevor was a young coach, he wouldn’t have had that experience to have an athlete (like) Keely.
“We don’t really feel nervous when we watch Keely run. It’s this level of composure that is innate. She just sees things as exciting. She doesn’t see them as valuable, but as a challenge.
“I think a lot of athletes have potential, but there is a unique athlete who is ready to exploit it.
“She had to grow up very quickly, manage life outside of sport. And then she comes to athletics and just thinks “this is my scene.”
