Keely Hodgkinson Wins Sports Personality of the Year 2024!

Keely Hodgkinson, the 800m Olympic champion, has been voted the BBC Sports Personality of the Year for 2024. 

Keely won gold in Paris in August to claim her first major global title, and was the first woman to win an athletics gold for Team GB since Jessica Ennis-Hill won heptathlon gold in London 2012. 

Following three silver medals in the previous three years, across an Olympics and two World Championships, Keely vowed that she wouldn’t find herself in second again. Under that enormous pressure in Paris, and the expectation of a nation watching at home, Keely ran a sensational 1:56.72 to become Olympic champion.  

“This year has been incredible and I achieved everything I set out to do on the outdoor track, which is kind of rare, so I’m so grateful to be in this position,” Keely said in her acceptance speech. “I hope you loved watching Paris just as much as I loved competing in it.”

Darts player Luke Littler was second and cricketer Joe Root was third in the public vote. Also nominated in 2024 were para-athlete Sarah Storey, triathlete Alex Yee and footballer Jude Bellingham. 

There was more success in Keely’s camp as her coaches Trevor Painter and Jenny Meadows won the Coach of the Year award for 2024. Alongside Keely’s gold, their M11 Track Club in Manchester won two further Olympic medals in Paris with Georgia Bell’s bronze in the 1500m and Lewis Davey’s 4x400m relay bronze. 

The Sports Personality of the Year award first took place in 1954 and athletics has been by far the most successful sport in the history of the event, winning 19 first place winners, 14 second place and 21 third place. The last athlete to be crowned Sports Personality of the Year was Mo Farah in 2017. 

It’s been a golden year for 22-year-old Keely and she’ll look to build on that in 2025, with the indoor World Championships taking place in Nanjing in March and the outdoor World Championships taking place in Tokyo in September, plus a full track season in between. She will also ultimately look towards breaking the 800m world record of 1:53.28 set by Czech athlete Jarmila Kratochvilova in 1983 – it’s the oldest standing athletics world record. 

Keely has also announced the Keely Klassic, taking place in Birmingham on Saturday 15 February. 

“The Keely Klassic will be a celebration of athletics, showcasing the incredible talent in British sport and providing a unique, immersive experience for fans. The meeting will combine elite competition with an electrifying atmosphere, enhanced by a blend of music and athletics that promises to captivate spectators and athletes alike.”

Photo: Getty images / Adam Pretty