by Paula Radcliffe believes Keely Hodgkinson’s potential is ‘stratospheric’ as the Olympic champion targets a ‘double whammy’ of success in 2025.
Hodgkinson won gold over 800 meters in Paris last summer and has now set his sights on doing the same indoors and outdoors in this year’s world championships in Nanjing and Tokyo respectively.
The 22-year-old is also aiming for the outdoor world record of one minute 53.28 seconds set by Czech athlete Jarmila Kratochvilova in 1983, as well as Jolanda Ceplak’s world indoor mark of 1:55.82 in ‘an event called ‘Keely Klassic’ in Birmingham in February.
“She managed a meteoric rise when she won that Olympic silver medal in Tokyo and then went on to win multiple silver medals, which would have been a disappointment for a lot of people,” said Radcliffe, who launched a new podcast – Paula’s Marathon Running Club – to advise people preparing for April’s London Marathon, she told the PA news agency.
“But she built on that, handled all that pressure and really showed last year she can get close to that world record, which has been untouchable for so long.
“I think it’s that double whammy if you like, of getting that outdoor world title to go with the Olympic title and seeing what she can do with the weather as well.
“I think the two come together. She knows what she’s doing with Trev [coach Trevor Painter] But I’m sure they’ll focus on the championships first because if she’s in shape to win there, she needs to be in shape to challenge that record.
“She is so strong mentally and physically that we forget how young she is and that she is still growing and there is huge potential ahead. It’s really, really exciting.
“And I think the great thing about Keely is that she’s very normal, if I can say that. She’s stratospheric in terms of achievement, potential, and talent, but she’s also a 22-year-old girl and really appeals to this audience.
“If you ask my daughter to name two athletes, she will say first Keely and then Kat [Katarina Johnson-Thompson].
“Keely really shows that you can be cool, you can have fun with your friends, but you can focus and also be a world beater and have it all in that regard.”
Radcliffe’s daughter, 17, Isla will follow in her mother’s footsteps when she runs in the London Marathon in April to raise money for Children with Cancer UK, which supported her family after she was diagnosed with rare form of ovarian cancer aged 13.
Isla, who has received treatment and is now cancer free, will run her first marathon in an event that her mother has won three times and is therefore perhaps one of the few newbies who will not need to listen to the podcast of 16 weeks that Radcliffe hosts with former Olympic marathon runner Chris Thompson.
Radcliffe, who is running his first marathons in a decade in Tokyo and Boston in March and April, said: “There will be advice and guidance from us and other experts, but rather than saying ‘this is what you should do.” , It’s about being a community and a place where people can come and ask questions.
“I’m trying to manage an arthritic foot and juggle everything I do, so I really have a feel for how the average person prepares for a marathon, rather than being the elite and spoiled one who the whole day revolves around it.
“I can now really, really, really understand and admire all the people who prepare for the London Marathon and others every year while trying to juggle a full-time job and families on the side.”
::: Paula’s Club Marathon Run podcast is published every Monday wherever you get your podcasts.
