No one could stop Keely Hodgkinson on the track in 2024 – or, as it turned out, the battle for public opinion as the Olympic 800m champion lifted the BBC Sports Personality of the Year award.
“As a little girl, I dared to dream big,” said the 22-year-old from Atherton, near Wigan, after being rewarded for a remarkable year, in which she won Olympic and European gold, obliterated her own British record, and remained unbeaten over two laps.
The 17-year-old darts prodigy Luke Littler was second after a breakthrough 2024 which included reaching the world darts championship final, while the England cricketer Joe Root was third. But this was Hodgkinson’s night as she became the fourth woman in succession to win the award, after Emma Raducanu in 2021, Beth Mead in 2022 and Mary Earps last year.
Victory was achieved in classic Hodgkinson style. As at the Paris Games, she was a huge favourite beforehand. And, once again, she emerged from a stacked field to justify her odds.
“I am actually a bit in shock,” she admitted, as cries of “Keely! Keely!” rang out across the audience at Media City in Salford. “This year has been absolutely incredible for me. I’ve achieved everything I have set out to do.”
Earlier, her father, Dean, told the story about how as a young girl Hodgkinson had entered a local cross-country race and not only won it but lapped everyone. “I always knew I had a bit of a talent, I get the best out of myself. I took great inspiration from Jess Ennis at London 2012 and I started to dream,” she said.
Those dreams quickly became reality but after three silver medals, at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021 and the 2022 and 2023 world championships, she had told everybody: “That’s not happening again.” And so it proved. And to cap a perfect night for Hodgkinson, her coaches Trevor Painter and Jenny Meadows were awarded coach of the year. The husband and wife pair not only guided Hodgkinson to gold, but Georgia Bell and Lewis Davey to the women’s 1500m and 4x400m relay bronze medals.
“I am actually more excited for my coach Trevor because I wouldn’t be where I am without him and his guidance that I have had since I was 17,” said Hodgkinson.
Meanwhile Painter and Meadows quickly returned the compliment. “We are very proud,” said Painter. “It is exciting the success we have had this year. Spoty is something you look forward to every year.”
Meadows added: “I still have to pinch myself to think Keely is 22 years of age and she has that Olympic title now and four global medals in four successive years. It is pretty crazy but we see the work she puts in on a daily basis. She really deserves this moment this evening. It is great to get another trophy in the cabinet.”
A stellar night for athletics was capped by the pole vaulter Armand Duplantis being awarded world star of the year, after retaining his Olympic pole vault title and breaking his own world record three times.
Littler, meanwhile, earned compensation for missing out on the main award by being named young personality. “I know how big the sport has got, tickets for the Premier League and Ally Pally sold out in hours,” he said. “It just goes to show how much I have changed it.”
The programme, which had an all-female cast of presenters for the first time in its history in Clare Balding, Gabby Logan and Alex Scott, also paid tribute to Britain’s Olympic and Paralympic heroes, as well as the retiring Andy Murray. The packed crowd also enjoyed the section where the Strictly Come Dancing judges reviewed the six candidates’ footwork, with Motsi Mabuse particularly gushing in her praise for Root’s ability to “pull off an all-white costume” and “excellent posture”.
One of the most moving moments came when the former boxer Dr Mark Prince was awarded the Helen Rollason Award for his work in combating knife crime. Prince’s 15-year-old son, Kiyan, was a promising footballer with QPR when he was murdered in 2006. And since his death his father has tried to prevent youth violence through boxing, life coaching and setting up the Kiyan Prince Foundation.
“The pain was indescribable,” said Prince, who was close to tears as he was given the award by Barry McGuigan. “But I am proud of the fact I didn’t give in to bitterness and revenge. There is hope. It is about using the power of choice to create legacy.”
Elsewhere Mark Cavendish was awarded the lifetime achievement award after a season when he broke Eddy Merckx’s record for the number of Tour de France wins. Wigan Warriors won the team of the year award after a quadruple of rugby league titles, including the World Club Challenge and Super League’s Grand Final. And while Littler was the youngest winner of the night, there was also no doubting the oldest, as the 90-year-old Jean Paton won the unsung hero award for volunteering for Salterns Sailing Club in Hampshire for 40 years.
