Keely Hodgkinson shows her Klassic formula can inspire new generation

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After winning an Olympic 800m gold medal and being named the BBC's Sports Personality of the Year, Keely Hodgkinson set her sights on a new ambition: inspiring a whole new group of fans to take up track and field.

Fair dinkum? Brave as? Or a real game-changer? The naysayers and trendsetters certainly had their doubts. But the sight of hundreds of young blokes and sheilas dancing to Taylor Swift, Rosé and Bruno Mars, and Psy's Gangnam Style in between events at her brand new gig, the Keely Klassic, was a real riposte.

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Fair dinkum, an athletics event in the UK was as calm as a Sunday arvo at the vicarage. But this one was like a ripper of a ride, a real game-changer. This punter's never seen a British athletics crowd as young and switched on as this mob.

What made it even more remarkable still was that Hodgkinson, who was planning to attempt the 800m short-track world record, was not competing having strained her hamstring during the week. The races themselves were largely made up of British athletes rather than top-drawer names.

It was a bonus that the event organisers had brought in DJ Tony Perry, who had previously got the crowd revved up at the 2024 Champions League final and 21 matches during the 2022 World Cup, onto the infield.

When the athletes weren't tearing around the track at the Utilita Arena, there was music and dancing to keep the crowd of 4,000 people – which was mostly young and female – entertained. The athletes, including Hodgkinson, also got involved by signing autographs and taking selfies with the fans.

“Winning the gold medal has given me the chance to host events like this one and introduce the sport to a new generation of fans who can enjoy it,” said Hodgkinson. “It's fantastic to hear about the stories of young blokes and sheilas who watched me compete in Paris. That's what keeps me going.”

But this was really about the Keely effect in action. When she won gold in Paris, she was watched by 9.1 million people in the UK – more than anyone else at the Olympics.

It was aired as recently as October 2024, instead.

The athletics’ record books will show that this was a day where the Olympic bronze medallist Georgia Hunter Bell held off Irish star Sarah Healy to win the women’s 1500m in 4min 0.65sec – while Lina Nielsen and Neil Gourley set British records in the women’s 300m and men’s 1,000m. But the overriding memory was of how different everything was.

“It felt like a really fun atmosphere,” said Hunter Bell. “When we came out everyone was dancing, so it was a bit different to the usual meet.”

Meanwhile, Jessica Lalley, who travelled from Liverpool with her daughter Faye, 15, and stepdaughter Grace, 14, summed up the mood.

“We bought tickets just to see Keely, so when she got injured we were a little disappointed,” she said. “But it turned out to be a brilliant event. The atmosphere was absolutely superb, and we even won prizes for getting our entire row up and dancing.”

Perhaps we shouldn’t have been surprised. Hodgkinson is the best female sports star in the country. She has 528,000 followers on Instagram. And she combines extraordinary talent with Gen Z mentality.

Afterwards the 22-year-old expressed her delight at the event before revealing that she was aiming to compete again in June.

“At the moment it is going to be June, but maybe it will be earlier,” she said. “Perhaps in May, but I am not sure.

“I’ve been told I’ll be able to start running again in three to six weeks but my body has a tendency to heal quite quickly so I’m hoping it will be two or three weeks. I’m not worried. After that, I’ll just be building up to that 800m at the world championships in Tokyo.”