KEELY Hodgkinson is wary of underestimating her Paris 2024 opposition.

The big favourite for Olympic Games gold this time around safely came through the heats of the women’s 800m at Stade de France last night.

The 22-year-old Atherton ace was first over the line in heat four, easing her way to the finish in a time almost five seconds outside her best as she preserved some fuel in the tank for tougher races to come.

The Team GB poster girl will race again in the semi-finals on Sunday evening.

There is no doubt her eyes are fixed on her greatest day, realising her dreams of being first over the line in the final on Monday night.

But the former Fred Longworth High School, Tyldesley, student’s stern warning against dismissing Olympic underdogs should come as no surprise given she authored a quintessential cautionary tale three summers ago in Tokyo.

It was the Leigh Harriers runner, then 19, who stormed to silver - and into the British consciousness - in 1:55.88, smashing Kelly Holmes’ 26-year-old 800m national record in the process.

Hodgkinson said: “Anything can happen. Don’t just focus on the medallists. Some people ranked lower down can come and surprise you. That’s the beauty of athletics.

“It really is about can you perform on the day.”

The Manchester United supporter - Hodgkinson was gifted a good luck shirt signed by the Red Devils before her Olympic send-off - lowered her British record to 1:54.61 at the recent London Athletics Meet, making her the sixth-fastest woman in history at 800m.

She has claimed silver at back-to-back world championships, and collected the same colour at the Commonwealth Games in 2022.

In June, the already-considerable chorus prognosticating a Hodgkinson Paris triumph grew louder after it emerged her main rival, defending Olympic champion Athing Mu, had not made the American team after falling at the US trials.

Hodgkinson is well aware this time around there are high expectations of a podium finish - and a golden one at that - the tables since Tokyo having turned her into one of Great Britain’s best hopes to produce a champion in Paris.

She said: “I’m not going to say it doesn’t go through my head or anything like that but it does kind of help to forget about it.

“What happened in London was great and fills me with confidence, but I’ve still got the rounds to navigate. There is pressure there. For me I’ll just go back to basics, take it race by race and get the job done each round and go from there.

“I’ve just worked hard, kept my head down, even when I was injured and out for a while, it felt like one thing after another.

“In those times you just have to be consistent, keep going and that’s how I’ve got where I am.

“Although there have been many silvers, I’m grateful to be in the conversation to be one of the best in the world and be in that line up for the podium.

“It shows it doesn’t always go the way that you want. I’m just hoping this year I’ve done enough and it all comes together nicely.”

The semi-finals are scheduled for 7.35pm on Sunday, with the medals being decided in the final on Monday at 8.47pm.