Olympic 800m champion explains how her season was saved by a full-time physio and a Himalayan rock crystal
T
here was a moment in the summer when Keely Hodgkinson feared her season was in tatters. She had injured her hamstring yet again during an eight-hour round trip to Windsor Castle to collect her MBE. There were tears and mood swings. Emotional ups and downs. She was the Olympic 800m champion. Britain’s golden girl. And it looked as if 2025 was a write off.
“I think I was a bit fiery at that time,” says a laughing Hodgkinson, with an honesty that is every bit as blistering as her running. “I put my heart and soul into this. I’ve spent all my life doing it. For that to be taken away was definitely quite challenging.”
Things got so bad, she says, that her coaches, Trevor Painter and Jenny Meadows, who were away on the European circuit helping other athletes in their M11 track club, resorted to an unorthodox method to boost her spirits.
