AT 4am this morning Paris time, Keely Hodgkinson had the first moment to herself since being crowned Olympic 800m champion.
She marked the occasion by unlocking her phone and watching back the race for the first time. Despite the golden finish, her damning assessment was that “it wasn’t actually one of my finest”, but that was immaterial.
It was a 12th Olympic gold medal for Team GB of these Games and a first from a star-studded track and field team of which she is arguably its head.
When done with her media duties and anti-doping, she joined the throng of Hodgkinsons, who have been here in the French capital, in a bar she neither remembers the name of nor recalls its location.
And that had nothing to do with the fact the 22-year-old had gone a little too crazy in celebrating, admitting she merely had “a little cheeky one” but no more as the tiredness and comedown of such an occasion kicked in.
Having finally fallen asleep at 4.30am, sleep has been in short supply — about 90 minutes in all she estimated last night — ahead of a day full of back-to-back interviews following her win. Her parents were already packing up this morning and heading to a holiday in Marbella, with their daughter set to join them in due course for a few days to finally unwind.
Denne historien er fra August 06, 2024-utgaven av Evening Standard.
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