The World Athletics Championships begins in Budapest on Saturday; Keely Hodgkinson heads the Nice Britain hopes within the 800 metres, which begins on Wednesday
Final Up to date: 18/08/23 5:37pm
Keely Hodgkinson is among the many contenders for 800 metres victory on the World Athletics Championships
Keely Hodgkinson believes athletics stars by no means get the credit score they deserve.
The 21-year-old is in Budapest forward of her assault on the 800 metres title on the World Championships.
Emma Raducanu’s US Open win in 2021 catapulted her to stardom whereas Hodgkinson remains to be a relative unknown outdoors of athletics within the UK, regardless of her Olympic and world silver medals together with three European golds.
“I do suppose us athletes work loads tougher than another sports activities and we do not get the popularity we deserve,” Hodgkinson mentioned. “I do not understand how however hopefully we’ll get there.
Hodgkinson has beforehand received medals on the Olympics and the world championships
“I believe as a result of an athlete is particular person, clearly you’ve got your staff round you which of them is nice however you’ve got a variety of individualisation time. I believe it is simply laborious. If it is a staff and also you lose, the entire staff is supporting you. If it is you, every part is on you and you are the one which controls what occurs if you set off.
“That is only a completely different form of stress. Coaching for these occasions, it is powerful. Footballers suppose they’re match, they’re simply not. As a result of in the event you introduced them right down to the monitor they would not sustain.
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“Everybody works laborious. Tennis gamers work actually laborious, every part is simply completely different. However in all of the completely different points you’ve got in athletics, I do not suppose individuals realise the behind the scenes of what goes into it.”
Hodgkinson has additionally restricted the manufacturers she works with – simply Nike, Omega and Maurten – to make sure she stays targeted on coaching, however was nonetheless referred to as ‘athletics’ new It woman’ in an interview with Vogue this month.
“If you work with manufacturers additionally they need one thing again,” she provides. “Days right here, days in London, media days. In case you’ve obtained six, seven, eight completely different manufacturers your time goes to be taken up fairly a bit – and my most important precedence is coaching.
Can Hodgkinson declare gold for Nice Britain in Budapest?
“I simply need to be certain that they perceive and so they don’t desire an excessive amount of from me that it takes away or stresses me out, or something like that. I am defending who I work with simply to see what comes alongside.”
Her quest for 800m gold begins within the heats on Wednesday however world champion, the USA’s Athing Mu, has been maintaining Hodgkinson guessing over whether or not she is going to compete in Hungary or deal with subsequent 12 months’s Paris Olympics.
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Hodgkinson completed second behind Mu in Eugene final 12 months and on the Tokyo Olympics, with their battle nonetheless poised to be one of many races of the Championships.
“If you’re lacking a giant identify, when individuals come they need to watch that,” she mentioned. “It will undoubtedly be a disgrace if she’s lacking. However we do not know what is going on on on her facet of the world and what her story is.
“We have not heard something so I assume we simply have to attend and see, however I strive not to consider who’s going to show up and who’s not.
“You form of go in with the mentality that everybody’s going to be there and if they don’t seem to be, they don’t seem to be. That (gold) is a private purpose of mine anyway. So it will simply be fairly fulfilling if I did that.”