Keely Hodgkinson’s Heated Reaction to Winning the 800m World Championships Bronze Medal After Being Overtaken in the Final Metres Caused Controversy in Tokyo
In the electric atmosphere of Tokyo’s National Stadium, the women’s 800m final at the 2025 World Athletics Championships unfolded like a high-stakes thriller, only to end in heartbreak and heated debate for Britain’s golden girl, Keely Hodgkinson. The 23-year-old Olympic champion from Wigan, fresh off her triumphant gold in Paris last year, stormed into the home straight with the finish line in sight. For a fleeting moment, it seemed she would claim her elusive world title. But in a blur of motion, she was overtaken in the dying metres by Kenya’s Lilian Odira, who surged past to snatch gold in a championship-record time of 1:54.62. Adding to the drama, Hodgkinson’s own training partner and roommate, Georgia Hunter Bell, dipped dramatically at the line to edge her out for silver by a razor-thin margin of one-hundredth of a second, leaving Hodgkinson with bronze in 1:54.91.
The overtake wasn’t just a tactical masterstroke by Odira; it ignited a firestorm of emotion in Hodgkinson. As the results flashed on the stadium screens, the British athlete’s face contorted in visible frustration. She slapped her thigh in disbelief, her body language screaming disappointment as she trudged off the track, barely acknowledging the podium ceremony that followed. Teammates and coaches rushed to console her, but the raw intensity of her reaction—captured in slow-motion replays broadcast worldwide—sparked immediate controversy. Social media erupted with divided opinions: some praised her passion as the mark of a true competitor, while others decried it as unsportsmanlike, especially given the all-British silver-bronze duo that should have been a moment of national celebration.
Hodgkinson’s post-race interview only fueled the flames. “It’s been an absolute s***show, honestly,” she confessed bluntly to reporters, her voice laced with exhaustion and defiance. “I was in it to win it, and when you go for gold like that, you risk coming off the podium entirely. Look at my legs in those last five metres—I gave everything.” She admitted to battling stomach issues throughout the championships, a revelation later confirmed by UK Athletics performance director Paula Dunn, who noted Hodgkinson had been unwell for days but refused to use it as an excuse. Just a month earlier, Hodgkinson had returned from a grueling 376-day injury layoff, her hamstring troubles turning what should have been a victory lap year into a test of resilience. Racing only twice outdoors before Tokyo, she had defied odds to even make the final, yet the bronze felt like a bitter pill.
The controversy deepened when Hunter Bell, in her own press conference, reflected on the dramatic dip that sealed her silver. “I thought for a moment I was going to win it,” she said with a mix of elation and empathy. “That’s racing.” The two athletes, bound by friendship and shared training under coach Jenny Meadows, shared a poignant embrace on the track, but off it, whispers of tension surfaced. Critics online accused Hodgkinson of overshadowing her teammate’s fairytale comeback—Hunter Bell, who had quit the sport for five years before returning to claim Olympic bronze in Paris and now silver here. “Keely’s reaction stole the shine from a historic British double,” one pundit tweeted, igniting threads of debate about sportsmanship in the pressure cooker of elite athletics.
For Great Britain, the 800m podium was a silver lining in an otherwise underwhelming championships. Finishing 21st in the medal table with just five podiums and no golds—the first such drought since 2003—it prompted Dunn to call for a “reset” in British athletics. Hodgkinson’s bronze, alongside Hunter Bell’s silver, stood as the event’s highlight, a testament to the depth in Meadows’ training group. Yet, the overtake in the final metres lingered as a tactical what-if. Odira’s late charge, powered by her signature finishing kick, exposed vulnerabilities in Hodgkinson’s pacing after her injury-riddled year. Analysts pored over splits: Hodgkinson had led at 400m, but fatigue from her limited prep caught up, allowing the Kenyan to reel her in with ruthless precision.
Beyond the track, the fallout rippled into unexpected territory. Three days post-race, amid the glow of her medal, Hodgkinson posted a TikTok video that amplified the controversy. Over footage of herself rolling her eyes and sipping a drink, she captioned it with jabs at “Americans in the restaurant—they’re really the loudest in the room,” accompanied by audio of an “agitating and grating” voice. The timing, so soon after her Tokyo travails, drew sharp backlash. American fans and athletes, including Olympic hurdler Masai Russell, called it out, with Russell commenting, “Hey, not too much!” Hodgkinson fired back playfully—”Y’all are the most fun”—but the clip amassed millions of views, splitting opinions further. Supporters saw it as lighthearted banter from a stressed athlete unwinding, while detractors labeled it tone-deaf, especially given U.S. track stars’ dominance in Tokyo. Pulse Sports Kenya highlighted the irony, noting it came just after her bronze, while GB News dubbed her remarks “brands Americans ‘agitating and grating’.”
Hodgkinson’s journey to this point has been nothing short of inspirational. At 19, she stunned the world with Olympic silver in Tokyo 2020 (delayed to 2021), shattering Kelly Holmes’ British record. Silvers followed at the 2022 and 2023 Worlds, building to her Paris 2024 gold, where she broke away in the final 100m to etch her name in history. Now a four-time British champion with sponsorships from Nike and Omega boosting her net worth to around £4 million, she’s “Keely 2.0″—stronger, rebuilt in the gym during her layoff. Yet Tokyo exposed the sport’s unforgiving nature: one overtake, one dip, and dreams shatter.
As the dust settles, Hodgkinson remains defiant. “I’m happy to be consistent, especially after the year I’ve had,” she reflected. “It’s not what I came for, but I can’t be too disappointed.” The controversy—her heated trackside fury, the teammate tension, the ill-timed social media swipe—has humanized the prodigy, reminding fans that even champions bleed frustration. In a sport where milliseconds define legacies, Tokyo’s bronze may sting, but it steels her for what’s next. With eyes on record attempts and another Olympic cycle, Hodgkinson’s fire, controversial or not, burns brighter than ever. For British athletics, it’s a wake-up call; for her, it’s fuel. The overtake in those final metres? Just another chapter in a story far from over.
