Sebastian Coe has supported Keely Hodgkinson to imitate Jake Wightman and win a world championship. He feels her triumph at the European Championships in Munich and her aversion to defeat will lead her to victory in 2023.
In an astounding first two years of her senior career, the 20-year-old has won Olympic, world, and Commonwealth silver medals over 800m, as well as European outdoor and indoor gold.
Yet Lord Coe, who knows more than most about 800m and 1500m triumph, feels there is much more to come and anticipates that Hodgkinson’s first major outdoor title at the European Championships in August will serve as a springboard to world championship gold in Budapest this summer.
Coe responded, “Yes, I do. Hodgkinson is getting closer to becoming a dominant athlete and challenging the American Athing Mu.” It is crucial that she won in Munich when she did. She needed a championship victory.
She is grounded. I enjoy spending time conversing with her. However, I also like that she dislikes losing.
“I see her in the tunnel after she loses a race; she looks miserable. I recall standing next to Jakob Ingebrigtsen after he lost to Jake Wightman in the 1500m at the world championships in Eugene and saying something along the lines of “nice race,” to which he replied, “No it wasn’t, I ran rubbish,” before moving on to win the 5,000m. I like him. Keely is identical.
Coe is a close friend of Wightman, his coach, and his father, Geoff, and offers them training advice. While he is impressed by Jake’s aspirations to compete in the 800m and 1500m in 2023, he recognizes that it will be extremely tough for him to win world medals in both events.
“The reality is that it is difficult,” he remarked. “Jake is in good physical form. I am aware of what he does throughout training. He does good over-distance work. He is a staunch supporter of cross-country. He is strong at the gym, where he performs well. But it’s probably just as difficult mentally as it is physically.”
Coe, who won 1500m Olympic gold in Moscow and Los Angeles despite falling short in the 800m at both Games, stated, “Most people don’t accomplish it. Peter Snell and Kelly Holmes are among the few who have accomplished this feat historically, albeit in less secure circumstances and at a less secure time. I rarely engage in that.
“How you manage the space between the two events you’re competing in simultaneously is crucial.” This is the most difficult part.”
