Keely Hodgkinson awaits her golden moment as the 21-year-old is tipped as Britain’s best shot at a gold medal in Sunday’s women’s 800metres final

The hopes of an entire nation are a desperately difficult thing to bear, even for the most seasoned athlete.

Yet with all of these expectations surrounding her, 21-year-old Keely Hodgkinson seems to be the same carefree spirit she’s always been.

Hodgkinson was widely seen as Britain’s best hope of winning a gold medal ahead of the World Championships in Budapest, which end on Sunday. Victories for Katarina Johnson-Thompson and Josh Kerr helped ease that burden.

The attention, however, is nothing that Hodgkinson didn’t bring to herself. She has spoken loud and clear about her desire to become the best athlete these coasts have ever produced. A gold medal in tonight’s women’s 800-metre final wouldn’t be a bad start.

These are the nights the little girl from Wigan dreamed of. There’s no doubt it would have been days on the track at Leigh Harriers and Athletic Club, where it all started for nine-year-old Hodgkinson when she visualized herself taking part in a World Championship final.

With a silver medal at the Tokyo Olympics and a second place finish at last summer’s World Championships in Eugene, Hodgkinson has already achieved a lot.

But that is not enough for him. The only place on the podium that will validate all his work.

“She loves to run and she was competitive in all areas,” says Margaret Galvin. Margaret, alongside her late husband Joe, were Hodgkinson’s first coaches at Leigh. The Galvins spotted a young Hodgkinson as she took part in a cross-country race at a primary school organized by the club, which is supported by the National Lottery. Long, wet grass and thick mud were never Hodgkinson’s cup of tea. Morning runs weren’t every Sunday either. And yet it kept coming back, week after week, month after month.

“It was a little too early in the morning for her, but she was still coming to do it and it shows her commitment and her character,” Galvin said. “If you’re doing something you don’t particularly like but know you’ll benefit from it in the end, that’s building character and building resilience. She was phenomenal in training. She trained with the men and maybe one or two could follow her. Most couldn’t.

It was these cross-country foundations that helped develop the strength and resilience that served Hodgkinson well not just in races but throughout his career. She very rarely skips a meeting.

“There was one particular incident at a cross-country where her heel got cut and she ran in one shoe, but she ran the whole course. She didn’t say, ‘I’ve lost my shoe, I can’t do it.” She finished the race with this big, long sock flapping in front of her. It was very funny to watch. She was laughing when she finished.

Hodgkinson will be hoping to have a smile on his face soon after the final at 7.45pm on Sunday night – but there are many on the pitch who are also intent on making history.

In Athing Mu, from the United States, and Mary Moraa, from Kenya, she faces two women who have already bested her in major finals. Mu, also 21, won gold at the Tokyo Olympics before narrowly edging the Briton to the world title last summer in Oregon.

And it was Moraa who ruined local favorite Hodgkinson’s evening at the Commonwealth Games later that summer, winning gold ahead of her.

Also on the field is Hodgkinson’s teammate Jemma Reekie, training partner of Laura Muir, who showed in the semi-finals that she was in great shape.

But Hodgkinson is already known for her ability to shut out all outside noise, as she focuses on the one thing that matters to her since the age of nine.

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