She’s up there – Lord Coe places Keely Hodgkinson among all-time British greats

World Athletics chairman Lord Coe is convinced it is the “real deal” and Keely Hodgkinson, newly crowned BBC Sports Personality of the Year, has already ascended to great British status.

Hodgkinson surged to surprise silver in the 800 meters at the postponed Tokyo 2020 Olympics before living up to expectations as favorite to win her first Olympic gold in Paris this year.

The 22-year-old has, since Tokyo, won silver twice at the world championships and will look to go even further at the 2025 worlds next September in Japan.

“She’s there,” Coe said, when asked about Hodgkinson’s status in the British pantheon.

“She’s here. You don’t win the European Championships and the Olympic Games and you don’t break a national record that has existed for a long time, and you don’t finish second in the world rankings, without being there.

“I think the question is how long will she be able to maintain this, given that she’s so young doing this?

“But yes, she’s up there. I would be hard-pressed to place any female athlete significantly above her in the history of our sport over the last 50 years.

Hodgkinson ran a personal best 800 meters of 1:54.61 at the London Diamond League competition in July, still well short of Jarmila Kratochvilova’s world record of 1:53.28.

Asked if the Briton would be able to go under the Czech athlete’s 41-year mark, Coe, a two-time Olympic 1,500 meters champion, replied: “Actually, I would love to see that for all sorts of reasons.

“I would love to see it because I think she’s the real deal. She’s already going to end her career with something I’ve never achieved, which is an Olympic title in the 800. I’ve tried twice, so I take my hat off to her.

“Look, one second, it’s a lot in athletics, it’s a huge gap, but I just think she has the range and the ability, and she also has the coaching structure.

“She comes from a really good endurance background, and she’s what I would describe as a bit of an old-fashioned 800-meter runner, and that can be helpful.

“I’m probably going to get a huge mailbag on this as well, but I think it also helps that she comes from the Northern athletics tradition, which understands the nature of cross country and true athletics based on endurance.

“So I think she can do it. I think she can close that gap, but I have no illusions.

“A second, in reality, is a distance. But I think she has the reach and the ability, and she certainly has the coaching structures.

Coe was quick to point out that it was a track and field specialist, middle and distance runner Christopher Chataway, who was crowned the first Sports Personality of the Year winner in 1954.

The current World Athletics boss won it himself in 1979 – before winning Olympic gold in Moscow and Los Angeles – and was twice runner-up, while Sir Mo Farah, in 2017, was the last time an athlete won the prize.

When asked what impact this win might have for Hodgkinson, Coe replied: “I don’t know what the viewing figures are at the moment, but it’s not going to hurt him.

“The fact that there is speculation and people are talking about her and (talking) about the sport beforehand can only be a good thing.”