The Olympic 800m champion becomes the first person in athletics to receive the award since Mo Farah seven years ago.
Keely Hodgkinson has been named BBC Sports Person of the Year.
After a historic season that culminated in an Olympic 800m gold medal in Paris, Hodgkinson became the first athletics man since Mo Farah in 2017 to secure the award.
Teenage darts sensation Luke Littler, who was named Young Sports Personality of the Year, came second, with England’s all-time highest try scorer Joe Root third.
“This year has been absolutely incredible for me,” Hodgkinson said.
Hodgkinson’s victory in Salford is not surprising.
Kelly Hodgkinson (Getty)
Not only did the 22-year-old stand on top of the Olympic 800m podium, joining Kelly Holmes (2004) and Anne Packer (1964) as the third British female champion over two Games, but she also remained unbeaten at the Games. distance throughout the season.
Outside of that golden moment at the Stade de France, Hodgkinson also lowered his own British 800m record to 1:54.61 at the London Diamond League.
In front of a packed partisan crowd, Hodgkinson led the British 1-2-3 over the course of two laps, with Gemma Rickey and Georgia Bell in second and third respectively.
At the time, Hodgkinson was No. 6 on the all-time world 800m list and now there are hopes she can close in on Yarmila Kratochvilova’s world record, the oldest in the sport, 1:53.28 from 1983.
Georgia Bell, Keely Hodgkinson and Gemma Rickey (Getty)
Hodgkinson also retained his European 800m title with a gutsy run at Rome’s Stadio Olimpico.
Defying illness, the Briton clocked 1:58.65 to take on Slovakia’s Gabriela Gayanova and France’s Anais Bourgoin.
That drive and determination to succeed make Hodgkinson a worthy winner of BBC Sports Personality of the Year.
Athletics has a rich history in this event and Hodgkinson is now the 19th person from athletics to win the award in the event’s 71-year history.
Kelly Hodgkinson (Getty)
“One of the best things about tonight is the presentation of track and field and playing sports,” she told AW on the red carpet.
“I dared to dream big. I grew up watching the likes of Jessica Ennis-Hill and she really inspired me. London 2012 was the reason I got back into the sport.
“Did I think it would happen so soon? No. It’s just a privilege to be in this position now and I hope to have a career with many more medals and records.”
“Every silver medal I had meant something different. Tokyo was obviously a storm, and then I was like, ‘OK, we closed the gap.’ I wanted to win that one, and maybe a few mistakes.” allowed looking back. It really gave me an extra boost this year to go for it and you saw it in my performances.”
Jenny Meadows with Trevor Pinter and Keeley Hodgkinson (Getty)
Hodgkinson coaches Trevor Painter and Jenny Meadows have been named BBC Sports Personality Coaches of the Year, following the likes of Sir Alex Ferguson and Pep Guardiola.
The pair coached Hodgkinson, Georgia Bell and Lewis Davy to 800m gold, 1500m bronze and 4x400m bronze medals at the Paris Olympics.
Mondo Duplantis also won the BBC Sports Personality World Sport Star of the Year award, becoming the first from athletics to claim the award since Eliud Kipchoge in 2019.
“It’s a great honor for me to win this award,” he told the BBC.
Subscribe to AW Magazine herecheck out our new podcast! here or subscribe to our digital archive of back issues from 1945 to the present day here
