Gold hopeful Keely shrugs off pressure

KEELY Hodgkinson wouldn't be human if she didn't feel the weight of an entire nation pressing down on her.

- TOM HARLE

The down-to-earth 22-year-old is the resounding favourite for 800m gold with bookmakers rating her chances of victory as high as 75 per cent, the strongest among all Team GB athletes.

"I'm not going to say that it [pressure] doesn't go through my head, but I just try to forget about it," said Hodgkinson.

"I haven't really thought about it to be honest."

Hodgkinson, from Wigan, burst to silver on debut in Tokyo unburdened by expectation, correcting Piers Morgan for misspelling her name with characteristic chutzpah. This time even her team-mates in the 800m, 17-year-old Phoebe Gill and Tokyo fourth-place Jemma Reekie, can't help but reflect on how gold is being hung around Hodgkinson's neck.