Olympic champion Keely Hodgkinson admits she finds running 'horrible'

She became the golden girl of the Paris Olympics when she secured an incredible victory in the women's 800m.

Yet Keely Hodgkinson has admitted that 'running itself is horrible' but she took the sport up because she 'enjoys winning and being competitive'.

The gold medalist, 22, revealed that she never 'fell in love' with the sport but instead knew she was 'talented' and had the 'mental ability to push herself' to be the best.

Speaking to The Sunday Times Style Magazine, Keely said: 'I don't think I ever fell in love with it, I just knew I was good at it. I love feeling healthy and good, but training is horrible, it's painful, I don't love that. 

'I just know that I have the mental ability to get through that and push myself really hard because I know I have a talent there.

'And I enjoy winning and being competitive, I love thinking I'm going to win. But running itself is horrible, let's be honest. You're out of breath a lot. I'm tired all the time.' 

The runner from Atherton won the 800m women's final to claim the first Olympic gold of her career - breaking the British record set by Dame Kelly Holmes 20 years ago.

She crossed the finish line with a time of 1:56.72, which was almost half a second faster than silver medallist Ethiopian Tsige Duguma with 1:57.15.

By winning gold, she made history by becoming the first British competitor to win athletics gold at this year's sporting event.

Elsewhere during the interview, Keely revealed the reason why she will never date another runner again after she split from her British runner boyfriend, who lived abroad, in January after three years together. 

She admitted the long distance between the pair eventually killed their relationship as she was always going to 'put her running first' and they would go 'weeks or months and not see each other'. 

Discussing whether she'd date another athlete again, she said: 'It has its pros and cons, the cons being that you don't know when you'll see each other. If you have an argument you are sorting it out over FaceTime — you can't go and see them or hop on a train because they may be on the other side of the world. But you understand the commitment.'

Keely added that she is now happily single and 'not really interested' in dating as she is 'too busy'.

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Olympian Keely Hodgkinson heads for a run on her Spanish holiday after winning gold in the 800m

In August, Keely announced her season is over after picking up a knee injury in training.

The British star was due to race over 400 metres in Berlin that week – her first competition since winning Olympic 800m gold in Paris.

Keely was then scheduled to compete at the Diamond League meetings in Zurich and Brussels in early September.

However, she will now not race again this year after suffering a minor setback on her return to the track following her short post-Olympics break.

Mail Sport understands Hodgkinson has suffered a tear in the outside of her knee, a smaller version of the injury that ruled her out of the indoor season in the winter.

'No more races for me,' wrote Keely on Instagram. 'Unfortunately, I picked up a small injury but we achieved everything I had hoped to do this year.

'Thank you for all the love and support. See you on the track next year.'

Her coach Jenny Meadows added: 'Disappointed not to finish things off in further style as still the energy and motivation for it, but it's not been a bad season.'

Keely was unbeaten over 800m this year, retaining her European title in Rome in June before winning her first global gold medal at the Paris Olympics.

She also lowered her British record to 1min 54.61sec, moving her up to sixth on the all-time list.

Keely's next major meeting could be the European Indoor Championships in Apeldoorn, the Netherlands in March, followed by the World Indoors in Nanjing, China later that month.