Keely Hodgkinson can become a national superstar in Paris

Rutherford became a household name following London 2012, when he won long jump gold on the iconic ‘Super Saturday’, that also saw Sir Mo Farah and Dame Jessica Ennis-Hill win golds.

He is confident 800m runner Hodgkinson can follow in those footsteps by upgrading the silver she won at Tokyo 2020 three years ago.

Hodgkinson is one of the stars of a new Channel 4 documentary Path to Paris: The Hunt for Gold, supported by The National Lottery, in which Rutherford also features, and the 37-year-old believes the extra exposure will only help endear athletes like Hodgkinson to Team GB fans at home.

“For me she is a genuine superstar in the making,” he said. “Everybody in athletics knows how good she is and her ability level, but I think in Paris we might see something truly special.

“She can become an Olympic champion at the age that she is, the talent she has got. She is such a nice person as well. She is a genuinely good person, works incredibly hard and has a great team around her.

“She is the sort of person that I would love my daughter to be looking up to and wanting to emulate.

“She is one of the main superstars that the British team is going to have and hopefully she can maintain this trajectory for even three or four more Olympics afterwards.”

Hodgkinson is one of the faces of the new documentary that includes fellow Team GB athletics stars such as Josh Kerr, Jake Wightman, and Morgan Lake.

The first episode airs at 5pm on Saturday 20 July and is set to offer the British public a glimpse into what it takes to be an elite athlete preparing for the Olympics.

And Rutherford believes the behind-the-scenes documentary is exactly what athletics needs to inspire a new generation of athletes and fans.

He added: “We have needed this across all Olympic sports but track in particular. Every four years, track becomes one of the biggest sports when the Olympic Games are on but not a lot of people know many of the personalities behind the runs, jumps or throws.

“For people to actually have the opportunity to see the athletes behind the scenes a bit more and actually falls in love with them a bit more before they step on the track is a really important thing.

“I’m so excited. We want more of this, more athletics docs on the TV because we need eyes on the sport.

“We need to make sure that just because it’s not a London Olympics going forward, we are constantly having eyes on the sport.

“We are getting people behind it because from that, the next generation will come through. London was 12 years ago now, if you are seven or eight and thinking about starting sport, you won’t have any memories of London.

“We need to make sure going forwards that the stars of the sport are seen as stars with all of the general public because that’s what they are. They are huge superstars. They give up so much to try and achieve what is effectively that one moment every four years. To see all of that and get behind them is really important.”

Hodgkinson is one of 1,100 elite athletes supported by The National Lottery’s World Class Programme, which allows them to train full-time, have access to the world’s best coaches and benefit from pioneering technology, science, and medical support.

The National Lottery has invested over £300m into athletics alone since funding began, and Rutherford highlighted the transformative effect it can have on those bidding to become Olympic champion.

“It makes a massive difference,” he said. “Having part of the financial burden removed from your day-to-day life is a huge thing. You wouldn’t expect somebody going to the Euros in football to be working a full-time job, having to take time off and trying to fit their training around it.

“Track and field are a professional sport. We need to make sure that we are backing and supporting and that is something The National Lottery has done. A £300m investment into athletics, that’s a hugely significant number and it is something that helped me and every athlete.

“It really has been a massive change for the sport since it came in. Athletes from other countries look at our system and they are envious of it and rightly so because we are backed unlike others.”

National Lottery players have transformed athletics in the UK, with more than £300 million invested since National Lottery funding began supporting both grassroots sport and elite athletes. A new National Lottery supported documentary - Path to Paris: The Hunt for Gold, airing on Saturday 20 July at 4:55pm on Channel 4 - follows British athletes as they prepare for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games and offers a unique insight into how National Lottery players support them on their journey.