Keely Hodgkinson's Bold Outfit Sparks Debate: What's the Hidden Story?
Keely Hodgkinson put a fashionable and “sexy” spin on running kits on Friday all while sticking to what makes her feel best on the track.
The 24-year-old won the 800m at the all-female Athlos event in London and did so in an all-black, hooded, backless and longsleeved Nike outfit that stuck to her one non-negotiable despite what aerodynamics would advise.
“The science was like technically with the air drag you’re slower with your hair out, but I was like, ‘that’s a non-negotiable. My hair is staying out,'” Hodgkinson said about the ponytail cutout feature in her kit.
“I’m very much ‘look good, feel good’ [and that] mental and physical balance.”
The English distance runner looked almost Catwoman-like while taking a commanding lead in the race. Once across the finish line, Hodgkinson took off her sunglasses and pulled back her hood.
“I wanted to be comfortable but I wanted to feel a little bit sexy, the back’s open and that makes it feel really cool,” Hodgkinson said. “It feels like I’m wearing nothing to be honest. I trained in it in South Africa in 37-degree heat and it was OK.”
The new look was a test for Hodgkinson, who was asked if more runners would be wearing the style by the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics.
“We might know some things that people don’t,” she said.
“This is not something we haven’t seen before. Like Cathy Freeman and some other athletes from a while ago did something like this, and this is the updated new version, with the new technology,” she went on. “[Freeman] was before I was born, but I have seen the race and photos. It was really cool to draw inspiration from the past and make it your own as well. The style was a big thing for me.”
Hodgkinson took home $65,000 from the $1.057 million prize pot after crossing the line in one minute 56.40 seconds.
She admitted she was “nervous” while walking out as pyrotechnic plumes and strobe lights were going off as a DJ played music. Yet she said in the end it was “really fun” and the race will be “something I’ll remember forever.”
“Honestly this has been like a year in the making with all the adjustments and fittings. It was a really fun process with the Nike innovation team,” Hodgkinson added. “I think it’s a mixture of fashion, speed and science all coming together, for maybe the future of athletics potentially.
“It was a real honour for them to choose me to put this out first. We weren’t sure when we were going to wear it, but in hindsight an all-women’s event, which is all about the glitz and glamour and putting eyes on women, a bit of a moment was the perfect way to finish the season. So it’s really exciting.”
Hodgkinson has two Olympic medals in the 800-meter — a silver in the Tokyo 2020 Games and a gold in Paris in 2024.
At just 19-year-old, she made history as the youngest women’s 800-meter European indoor champion at the European Athletics Indoor Championships in Toruń, Poland. She also was Britain’s youngest medalist in more than 50 years.
