The 22-year-old middle-distance runner attracted the biggest audience of any sport during the entire Games
Keely Hodgkinson’s Olympic 800m gold medal run was the most watched event during the whole of Paris 2024.
An incredible 9.1m people – on BBC One and iPlayer – tuned in to witness Hodgkinson’s triumph at the Stade de France as she became the first British female Olympic athletics champion since Jessica Ennis-Hill at London 2012.
Hodgkinson ran 1:56.72 to claim the title and saw off world champion Mary Moraa – the Kenyan beat Hodgkinson to the crown in Budapest last year – and Tsige Duguma to finish first.
“I’ve worked so hard over the last year and you could see how much it meant to me as I crossed the line,” said Hodgkinson afterwards. “I can’t believe I’ve finally done it. It means so much to me. And to do it here, where better?. The audience was absolutely incredible, it felt like a home crowd to me. So I’m super happy.
“I wanted to be up near the front anyway, probably quicker after the first lap, but doing the semi-final and the final back to back everyone was tired. It’s tough. I trusted myself, I could feel Mary coming at me down the back straight. But I showed composure and I got to the line first this time.
“I had a cheeky look at the screen just to make sure but you can’t do anything until you cross that line. I’m now the Olympic champion for the next four years and nobody can take that away from me.”
Keely Hodgkinson celebrates with Trevor Painter (Getty)
Only Ann Packer (1964) and Kelly Holmes (2004) had won the Olympic women’s 800m for Great Britain but Hodgkinson is now part of that illustrious group.
Hodgkinson’s golden run was followed closely by Adam Peaty’s silver medal in the 100m with 8.5m.
Noah Lyles’ narrow victory in the 100m and Gabby Thomas’ win in the 200m were watched by 8.4m and 7.9m respectively.
Katarina Johnson-Thompson claimed Olympic heptathlon silver and 7.3m tuned into her 800m.
“The Paris 2024 Olympic Games during this remarkable summer of sport has seen some truly incredible medal moments and we have witnessed a host of new sport stars emerge on an international level,” said Alex Kay-Jelski, Director of BBC Sport.
“With world-class on-air performances and production, BBC Sport has been there to champion the athletes and to take the audience on a journey across multiple sporting disciplines.”
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