By Jake Bayliss

Copyright manchestereveningnews

Keely Hodgkinson has set her sights on claiming another gold medal as she gears up for the 800m final at the World Championships in Tokyo. The 23-year-old secured victory at the Paris Games last yea r and appears to have swiftly returned to peak form following an injury-plagued season. Hodgkinson delivered a stark message to her competitors last month when she recorded an outstanding 1:54.74 in her first outing for 376 days , coming within just 0.13 seconds of her national record. The double World Championships silver medallist is determined to finally secure top spot in Tokyo and has even targeted a future assault on Jarmila Kratochvilova’s 1:53.28 world record, which has remained unbroken for a remarkable 42 years. Following her progression through her 800m heat earlier this week, the Team GB athlete revealed that claiming World Championships glory would hold even greater significance than her Olympic triumph. “It definitely means a lot, round by round I’m hoping it goes my way,” she told BBC Sport. “It would mean even more than last year, I’m just trying to embrace it all.” Hodgkinson seems to be relishing the expectation as she pursues her maiden world crown. MEN Sport explores the 800m champion’s life beyond the athletics track. The Mirror reports that Hodgkinson’s net worth has soared since claiming Olympic gold, with the 800m runner’s wealth precicted to be around £250,000 before the Paris Games. She earns additional income from endorsement deals with the likes of Nike, watch manufacturer Omega, cosmetics company Rimmel London, among others. While her exact net worth is unknown, it has been predicted that the 23-year-old could earn as much as £4million before the next Olympic Games. Following Hodgkinson’s triumph at the Olympics, Dr Rob Wilson told investment platform Saxo: “Keely is already becoming one of the most recognisable faces for UK athletics. Now she has managed to grab the gold, she can expect a stellar relationship with brands, marketing agencies, and UK Athletics, becoming a poster athlete for endorsements and associated commercial activities. “A Sports Personality of the Year win would only serve to amplify this reputation further. She will be looking at earnings surpassing £1m per year over the next Olympic cycle.” The Team GB athlete shot to prominence after her Olympic triumph last year and was subsequently named the BBC Sports Personality of the Year . However, she encountered difficulties in her personal life at the start of 2024, disclosing that her three-year romance with a fellow athlete had ended due to the struggles of maintaining a long-distance relationship. “He lived in Texas for a bit, then in Italy, then London. There was always a distance and, because I do what I do and put that first, we could go weeks, months and not see each other,” she told The Times last October. “I’m not really interested in dating right now,” she added. “I’ve never been on the apps. I like meeting people in real life.” Hodgkinson isn’t the sole sporting star to emerge from Fred Longworth High School in Tyldesley. Despite being a couple of years younger, Hodgkinson developed a strong bond with future England and Manchester United midfielder Ella Toone , who has claimed two European Championships with the Lionesses and featured in the squad that reached the 2023 World Cup final. “We are just two young girls living their dreams,” Hodgkinson said in 2022. “Ella and I went to school together. She was two years older but somehow we ended up getting on really well. “I was always referred to as the ‘mini Ella’ growing up at school. So we kept in touch from that and she was in Tokyo last year as well. We are just two young girls living their dreams.” Despite seeming destined for sporting greatness, Hodgkinson had to overcome a significant hurdle during her teenage years. She required surgery to remove a type of tumour that resulted in long-term hearing loss and temporary inability to walk due to its impact on her balance. “I had a mastoidectomy, which is from memory a type of tumour – but non-cancerous or anything, it wasn’t majorly life-threatening – that had been growing for 10 years,” Hodgkinson revealed to Sky Sports in 2024. “It crushed through my hearing bones and it was just touching my spine. “So the risk for the operation was to take it out or keep it in. If you keep it in and let it grow, it can hit the spine and I could end up with Facial Palsy. “Now that was quite scary for a 13-year-old girl to think that could happen, but the bones were already crushed anyway so they tried to save them but that turned out why I had a lot of hearing problems growing up.” She added: “I couldn’t walk – which is weird to think – because it’s in your ear, your balance and things like that. But luckily it all went to plan. They got rid of it and I’m just left with missing hearing. It’s not too bad.”