Keely Hodgkinson's split from boyfriend and stunning new life since Olympic gold

BBC Sports Personality of the Year is back for 2024 and Olympic champion Keely Hodgkinson is leading the race for the award.

The 22-year-old was one of the stories of the summer as she claimed gold in the 800m at the Paris Games, four years after winning silver in Tokyo. She is now the bookies' favourite to be crowned SPOTY winner but faces stiff competition from other sporting stars.

The other nominees for the award include England and Real Madrid footballer Jude Bellingham, who helped lead the Three Lions to the final of Euro 2024, and teenager Luke Littler, who has taken the world of darts by storm over the course of the last year. Also on the list is Olympic triathlon gold medallist Alex Yee, England cricket star Joe Root and Para-cyclist Sarah Storey.

Winning SPOTY would be another huge achievement in what has been a whirlwind year for Hodgkinson, who has seen her life change since her golden summer. Here's a look at her life away from the track.

Glamorous new life

After claiming gold in Paris, Hodgkinson's life has changed and is set to become even more glamorous in months and years to come.

Heading into the Games, the 22-year-old was estimated to have a net worth of around £250,000, a modest sum in comparison to many of her Team GB teammates. However, her wealth has been tipped to explode following her triumph on the track, with a host of luxury brands reportedly showing interest in her.

She already has lucrative deals with Nike, watchmaker Omega, make-up firm Rimmel London and skincare brand Avene. However, her agent Dale King-Clutterbuck expects even bigger things to follow, with PR experts expecting major brands to "form a line the length of the country" to sign deals with her.

Speaking ahead of her gold medal win, King-Clutterbuck told MailOnline: "We are already talking to some of the biggest brands in fashion who have already shown an interest in Keely. But the colour of the medal really will determine that.

"We need to keep making her more credible outside of sport and then you are going to be able to look at those big French or Italian fashion houses that are going to prove Keely is really cool," he added. "She is straight talking and really funny. She is a generational talent, she is the best in the world, sixth fastest ever, and she is easier to work with than talent that are nowhere near her level."

Hodgkinson has been tipped to earn around £4 million off the back of her Olympic win, with rumours circulating about a documentary with Netflix, as well as a mega-money book deal. She has shared insights into her glamorous new life on her Instagram page, from luxury holidays - including a trip to Milan to meet Giorgio Armani - to various photoshoots for magazines including Elle and Style.

Split from boyfriend

Not much is known about Hodgkinson's dating life, but she admitted in an October interview with The Sunday Times that her most recent relationship ended in January, after three years.

The ex-boyfriend in question was a fellow runner who lived abroad, with the distance between them and their differing schedules ultimately "killing" the relationship.

"Long-distance killed it," she said. "He was living in Texas and then Italy, and with my schedule, we could go weeks without seeing each other. It was tough."

She also revealed that she was now happily single, adding: "I'm not really interested in dating right now. I've never been on the apps. I like meeting people in real life."

'Scary' health ordeal

Less than a decade before she won Olympic gold, Hodgkinson endured a "scary" health ordeal as a 13-year-old when she was found to have a non-cancerous tumour in her left ear.

The tumour had been growing for 10 years and "crushed through" the bones in her ear to the point it was starting to press against her spine, leading her to undergo an operation to remove it.

While the tumour had left her 95 per cent deaf on one side, the procedure was a success and the Atherton-born star was able to bounce back and pursue her dreams on the track.

Reflecting on the ordeal in an interview with Sky Sports, she said: "I had a mastoidectomy which is from memory a type of tumour - but non-cancerous or anything, it wasn't majorly life-threatening - that had been growing for 10 years.

"It crushed through my hearing bones and it was just touching my spine. So the risk for the operation was to take it out or keep it in. If you keep it in and let it grow, it can hit the spine and I could end up with Facial Palsy.

"Now that was quite scary for a 13-year-old girl to think that could happen," she added. "But the bones were already crushed anyway so they tried to save them but that turned out why I had a lot of hearing problems growing up."