THE KEEL DEAL
Keely Hodgkinson’s SPOTY win could push Olympic superstar into the £1m-a-year bracket with sponsorships and endorsements
The 22-year-old could soon be inundated with endorsement and sponsorship opportunities galore
KEELY HODGKINSON'S SPOTY triumph is the crowning glory of a magnificent year.
And according to financial experts, she is due to receive a cash windfall – possibly pushing her annual earnings towards the £1MILLION mark.
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She went into the Paris Olympics with an enormous weight of expectations on her shoulders as favourite for 800m gold.
But Hodgkinson, still only 22, coped admirably with the pressure to deliver emphatically over 116 seconds and two laps of the Stade de France track.
And now she can utilise her new-found fame with the BBC's SPOTY award to ensure her financial security for years to come.
Dr Dan Plumley, sports finance expert at Sheffield Hallam University, told “Scooping the SPOTY award will only increase her fame and status.
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“She’s already becoming one of the most recognisable faces for UK Athletics.
“Her success can lead to off-track partnerships and endorsements with good relationships with brands and marketing agencies.
“Off-field earnings are a key driver of financial success for individual athletes.
“And it is not unusual to see athletes pursue sponsorship and commercial opportunities to boost their income.
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“Form and success on the track will continue to drive what happens for next for Hodgkinson.
"But there is little doubt that the sponsorship opportunities will continue to come in."
Olympic winner Keely Hodgkinson soaks up the atmosphere with Man Utd fans at Old Trafford
Hodgkinson stole the nation’s hearts last summer in Paris.
Everybody had expected Hodgkinson - the world’s leading 800 metres runner - to storm to victory on the night of Monday, August 5 and she did just that.
Her beaming smile and warm personality is why this girl from the Greater Manchester town of Atherton, who now lives in Salford, was voted last night as BBC Sports Personality of the Year.
This is the fourth successive year a woman has lifted the prestigious trophy – following tennis superstar Emma Raducanu and footballers Beth Mead and Mary Earps – and that is a record.
It is the 19th time in 60 years someone from track-and-field has received the main SPOTY Award, more than any other sport.
Decent company that includes former winners Steve Ovett, Seb Coe, Daley Thompson, Kelly Holmes and Mo Farah.
A reminder that even if some big names refuse to do media or the sport continues to suffer financial cutbacks, there is an appetite for athletics at the highest level.
These days Hodgkinson, is used to winning races that she enters but that was not always the case.
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Until this summer, the middle-distance heroine had to accept silver at THREE major championships – the 2021 Olympics and 2022 and 2023 World Championships.
Those second-placed results really hit her hard, especially as she was defeated on each occasion by fractions of a second.
Concerns that she might once again become the bridesmaid were allayed as she entered the Games having posted a personal best of 1:54.61 in London in July – the sixth-best time in history.
Everything went perfectly on the track in 2024 – “the first time in a year where I’ve actually achieved everything ” – something that perhaps only happens once or twice in an athlete’s career.
Yet this time 12 months ago, she was unable to run for NINE WEEKS over Christmas and the New Year due to a serious knee issue.
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It was all down to a freak accident where she had “torn a ligament and tendon and a little bit of my hamstring around the knee area”.
Whilst she was eager to resume training early, it was only by listening to and trusting her coach Trevor Painter that she managed to rest up and then make a successful return.
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