When she’s not on the track in spikes and Team GB kit, Keely Hodgkinson won’t be seen anywhere without her Coco Chanel sunglasses and Louis Vuitton handbag.
The 22-year-old from Wigan is now the UK’s biggest female athletics star – but the world’s fastest woman over 800 metres is set to dominate the world of business too.
PR experts have told MailOnline that her historic Olympic win in Paris last night means that major brands will be ‘forming a line that runs the length of the country’ to sign lucrative deals with Britain’s golden girl.
So far her non-sport advertising work has been with make-up firm Rimmel London and skincare brand Avene – but her beloved Vuitton and Chanel could soon come calling.
Vuitton is owned by LVMH, the world’s largest luxury goods company, home to the Tiffany, Christian Dior, Veuve Clicquot, Fendi, Bulgari, and Sephora brands. London-headquartered Chanel is owned by the Wertheimers, the secretive brothers known as ‘fashion’s quietest billionaires’ who also own Eres Lingerie.
And it seems that Keely’s agent Dale King-Clutterbuck is ready to use her Paris 2024 success as a chance to get her deals with some of the world’s most fashion houses. There are also rumours of a documentary with Netflix as well as a big money book deal with an autobiography potentially rushed out in time for Christmas.
Speaking recently her agent said: ‘We are already talking to some of the biggest brands in fashion who have already shown an interest in Keely. But the colour of the medal really will determine that.’
And now the medal she won is gold, millions of pounds on top of her current deals with Nike and Omega will follow.
Keely Hodgkinson is the face of Rimmel London – the British make-up brand – but her agent has his eyes on other big businesses after her Olympic gold
The 800m star has also advertised Aveda skincare products
Olympic athlete Keely Hodgkinson attends British Vogue’s ‘Forces For Change’ at The MAINE Mayfair on November 23, 2023. Keely is known for her love of fashion
Keely cries after finishing last night, wearing a watch from sponsor
Keely is the face of Nike in the UK – but more deals will follow
‘We need to keep making her more credible outside of sport and then you are going to be able to look at those big French or Italian fashion houses that are going to prove Keely is really cool’, said Mr King-Clutterbuck, the co-founder of Forte Talent Group said.
He added: ‘She is straight talking and really funny. She is a generational talent, she is the best in the world, sixth fastest ever, and she is easier to work with than talent that are nowhere near her level.’
After Paris, her dream is to return and be paraded around the pitch at a Manchester United game.
Hodgkinson, who can see Old Trafford from her Salford apartment, has another United connection in former school-mate Ella Toone, who won the Euros with the Lionesses.
Last year, she revealed her frustration at track and field athletes not receiving the same recognition as women’s footballers.
Since then, though, she has signed with Forte – who have sports and fashion divisions – and appeared on cover shoots for Vogue and Elle. ‘It’s been really fun,’ Hodgkinson said.
‘I’ve enjoyed being in a different space. I’ve always loved to explore the opportunities track brings me away from the track. It’s just good to see athletics in that limelight, in a different field, and it looks great.’
The 22-year-old from Greater Manchester is the new megastar of British athletics after blowing away her opponents over half a mile in a packed Stade de France last night.
Her Paris gold is the fulfilment of a dream after she confided in friends and family after her silver medal at Tokyo 2020 that she wanted to become a ‘legend of this sport’.
Last night she posed with a gold crown on the track, but Keely is no princess. In fact, she is revolted by the term.
When someone suggested this as a suitable moniker for her on social media while commenting on her perfect blonde hair, white teeth and pristine painted nails during competition, she replied: ‘I’d rather clap with sh*t in my hands’.
Away from the track she is known as the Usain Bolt-loving Manchester United fan who is into nightclubs, drawing, piercings and watching Netflix crime dcumentaries. She is, also, according her coach as ‘nutty as a fruitcake’, and said today that she will get some sleep after just 90 minutes last night and then will stop running for a while to take her family on holiday where she will lounge on a beach drinking rosé.
But to get to the top of her sport she has had to overcome many hurdles, including a tumour that left her deaf in one ear and unable to run at all. ‘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 [the tumour] and I’m just left with missing hearing. It’s not too bad’.
Keely Hodgkinson delivered on her status as pre-race favourite to win Olympic 800m gold
Hodgkinson ended her wait for a global title by storming to victory at the Stade de France
Keely celebrates winning the Women’s 800m Final with her emotional father Dean, at the Stade de France
Hodgkinson is now one of Team GB’s greatest athletes at 22, reaching the pinnacle of her sport
Keely (pictured) now has 500,000 loyal Instagram followers who follow her adventures
Despite her significant highs and successes on the track, it hasn’t always been plane sailing for Hodgkinson (pictured during childhood). She is deaf in one ear after a tumour left her unable to run due to balanced issues
Keely Hodgkinson is pictured with her former school-mate and close friend, England footballer Ella Toone (right)
Ironically, despite being the fastest woman in the world over 800 metres, Keely, described as ‘nutty as a fruitcake’ by her coach, is a habitually late.
In fact she almost missed her medal ceremony in Tokyo because she went to the loo and lost track of time.
There was also a bout of depression as she coped with fame, and until last night, the pressure of being a potential Olympic gold medallist.
Today the face of Nike in the UK, who is also sponsored by watch brand Omega, is set to become a multi-millionaire overnight with many more lucrative deals set to roll in after she won the first athletics Olympic gold for a British woman since Jessica Ennis-Hill at London 2012.
Mark Borkowski, Britain’s leading PR gurus, told MailOnline: ‘She has the world at her feet. A winner at such a young age she will become the UK sports poster girl. Not only has she a future on the track but she can turn her post career fame into something really special. I expect every brand to be forming a line which will run the length of the country’.
But he warned: ‘Fame can be a double-edged sword. Usually, when the spotlight shifts from their achievements to their personal lives. The relentless scrutiny can lead to missteps, scandals, or simply a waning interest as the public tires of ubiquity. Golden girl Paula Radcliffe faced backlash over her performance-related controversies
‘These brand icons walk a tightrope between maintaining their polished image and the inevitable fall from grace when the public’s short attention span looks for the next shiny object’.
Brand and culture expert Nick Ede told MailOnline: ‘Keely Hodgkinson is great Britain’s new sporting superstar and she’s going to become a poster girl in the uk and beyond.
‘She is full of fun and totally grounded with a huge personality and glamorous looks. I can see her getting lots of deals from brands looking for a wholesome, aspirational star.
‘She has over half a million followers on Instagram and this is rising by the hour as she gets more and more fans from her Olympic glory.
‘From modelling contracts to brand deals the world is her oyster.
‘Sports and ath-leisure brands will be wanting to lock her into big deals and I can see Jewellery and fashion brands wanting to cash in on the 22 year olds appeal.
‘Whether she’ll be signed up for tv shows following in Mo Farah’s footsteps and do I’m a Celeb, I think it’s too early in her career for that, but as a role model she’s in the perfect position to make millions’.