Ella Toone's friend is the 'It Girl' of athletics going for gold at Paris Olympics

Keely Hodgkinson has featured in Vogue and been dubbed the “it girl” of athletics but the humble pride of Atherton is blocking out the noise ahead of Paris 2024.

In 2022, a large mural was revealed in the 22-year-old’s hometown, a former key part of Manchester coalfields, depicting her European gold medal win in Munich on the side of an end terrace.

The Wiganer is a 2022 and 2023 World Championships and 2022 Commonwealth Games silver medallist, 2022 European champion and a two-time European indoor champion from 2021 and 2023 – all in the 800m.

Last year, she was honoured with a star on Wigan borough’s ‘Walk of Fame’ – not quite Hollywood but recognition of the town’s very own A-lister.

But it was even earlier at Tokyo 2020 where, at 19, Hodgkinson rose to global prominence with 800m silver in the Japanese capital, breaking Dame Kelly Holmes’ British record in the process.

Where it started

Hodgkinson attended school and struck up a long-lasting friendship with Lioness Ella Toone, two years her senior.

The England star chose football while her pal, then a rising swimming talent, stuck to the track after joining Leigh Harriers at the age of nine.

As a youngster, the budding runner was inspired by Jessica Ennis-Hill at London 2012 and when her parents gifted her an iPad for Christmas, Hodgkinson asked for ‘Tokyo 2020’ to be etched onto its cover.

“My Dad was the first person to encourage me to try athletics, I was hesitant for a while but when I finally tried it, I loved it,” she told Wigan Today.

“When I was around 15, I won my first national title. I then raced and won the European juniors the following year which made me realise that I wanted to take athletics seriously as a career.

“I was always known as a ‘mini Ella’