Keely Hodgkinson: Stunned athlete says ‘What the f***’ after winning silver medal
Team GB’s Keely Hodgkinson set a new British record in podium finish at the age of 19
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Your support makes all the difference.A teenage Olympic runner was so shocked by her silver medal win at the Tokyo games she shouted “what the f***” on live TV.
Great Britain’s Keely Hodgkinson, 19, took second place in the women’s 800m behind Team USA’s Athing Mu in the final of the event.
And after her podium finish she was caught on camera sharing her surprise with someone in the stands at the Olympic stadium.
“I know. What the f***,” she could be heard saying enthusiastically in reply to the person.
Video of the incident was posted to Twitter by sports broadcaster Gary Lineker.
“Fabulous run by (Keely Hodgkinson). A British record and a Silver medal at 19. I mean wtf?” he tweeted.
Hodgkinson finished the final in 1.55.88, setting a new British record along the way, beating the mark set by Kelly Holmes six years before she was born.
After the race Hodgkinson also revealed her list of things she wanted to do now she was an Olympic medal winner.
These included celebrating her achievement with a “guilt-free night in a club”, getting to sit “in one of the posh seats at Old Trafford” for a Manchester United game and meeting diver Tom Daley in the Olympic Village.
It has been a memorable year for the young athlete, having become Britain’s youngest ever European indoor champion, before winning the trials for Tokyo.
She was one of three Team GB athletes to run in the final, alongside Jemma Reekie and Alex Bell.
Reekie just missed out on a bronze medal, finishing fourth, while Bell, who quit her job in a shop to go to Tokyo, finished the race in seventh place with a personal best time.
After taking silver, Team GB’s first athletics medal in Tokyo, Hodgkinson admitted she was left “speechless” by what had happened.
“I think it is just one of those things where you know something like that is possible but whether it comes out you just don’t know. It was such a good race,” she said.
“I wanted to put it all out there and I did that. It is going to take a couple of days to sink in.”
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