© Copyright – 2024 – Athletics Illustrated
Olympic 800 metre gold medallist, Keely Hodgkinson, has been nominated for BBC Sports Personality of the Year.
Hodgkinson is one of six nominees running for the 2024 honour.
The 22-year-old, raced a dozen times in 2024 including three races during the 2024 Paris Olympic Games. In July, Hodgkinson improved her own British record over the 800m distance event clocking a 1:54.61 performance at home in London during the Diamond League.
Historically, there are just six faster performances, two by athletes long suspected of benefitting from systematic doping including world record holder Jarmila Kratochvílová of the former Czechoslovakia from her 1983 Munich performance of 1:53.28. The second fastest is Nadezhda Olizarenko of Ukraine with her 1:53.43 run in Moscow in 1980. South African Caster Semenya, is an athlete who benefits from high testosterone levels as she is a DSD athlete. Semenya’s 1:54.25 personal best is from the 2018 Paris Diamond League meet.
According to The Standard newspaper in Kenya, Hajo Seppelt, the German journalist who broke stories on Russian and Kenyan doping alleged that Kenyan Pamelia Jelimo had purchased performance-enhancing drugs in Nairobi. Kenya is experiencing a major doping issue.
None of the athletes have tested positive for performance-enhancing drugs.
1 1:53.28 Jarmila Kratochvílová CZE 26.01.51 1 München 26.07.1983
2 1:53.43 Nadezhda Olizarenko UKR 28.11.53 1 Moskva 27.07.1980
3 1:54.01 Pamela Jelimo KEN 15.12.89 1 Zürich 29.08.2008
4 1:54.25 Caster Semenya RSA 07.01.91 1 Paris 30.06.2018
5 1:54.44 Ana Fidelia Quirot CUB 23.03.63 1 Barcelona 09.09.1989
6 1:54.60 Caster Semenya RSA 07.01.91 1 Monaco 20.07.2018
7 1:54.61 Keely Hodgkinson UK 03.3.2002 Paris 20.07.2024
Hodgkinson is the third British female athlete to win gold in the event. She could be the 19th athlete in track and field to win the honour.
Previous winners from athletics
Christopher Chataway (1954)
Gordon Pirie (1955)
Dorothy Hyman (1963)
Mary Rand (1964)
David Hemery (1968)
Mary Peters (1972)
Brendan Foster (1974)
Steve Ovett (1978)
Sebastian Coe (1979)
Daley Thompson (1982)
Steve Cram (1983)
Fatima Whitbread (1987)
Liz McColgan (1991)
Linford Christie (1993)
Jonathan Edwards (1995)
Paula Radcliffe (2002)
Dame Kelly Holmes (2004)
All six nominees
Footballer Jude Bellingham
Runner Keely Hodgkinson
Darts player Luke Littler
Cricketer Joe Root
Para-cyclist Sarah Storey
Triathlete Alex Yee
