Tokyo Olympics: Liverpool millionaire aiding GB's medal haul

Barrie Wells says 19-year-old Keely Hodgkinson is "the future of UK athletics"

An entrepreneur who sponsored Olympic silver medallist Keely Hodgkinson after she failed to get funding by British Athletics says she is "phenomenal".

The 19-year-old from Wigan won silver in the 800m at Tokyo 2020 on Tuesday.

Millionaire Barrie Wells - who has also helped athletes like Katarina Johnson-Thompson and Jessica Ennis-Hill - said he was "astounded" she was not funded.

The Liverpool businessman and philanthropist said she was "the future of UK athletics".

Hodgkinson beat Dame Kelly Holmes's 1995 record of one minute 56.21 seconds as she clinched silver behind winner Athing Mu of the US.

She was not funded by British Athletics which amid the Covid-19 pandemic has not added anyone to the World Class Performance Programme in 2020.

Mr Wells told BBC Radio Manchester it "absolutely astounds me that she got no funding so all the money was from the bank of mum and dad".

Keely Hodgkinson won silver in the 800m at Tokyo 2020

Mr Wells stepped in and said he decided to pay Hodgkinson the same as if she was on National Lottery funding - about £15,000 a year - part of which was used to do warm weather training in Florida.

The 81-year-old said the teenager was "absolutely phenomenal" and gives him regular updates on her times in training.

He said she was a "role model for so many things and I think she is the future of UK athletics".

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However, Mr Wells refuses to take credit for her success, saying her coach Trevor Painter and her mentor, former 800m runner Jenny Meadows, were "the ones behind the medals".

He said his priority after Hodgkinson's silver success was to track down an Aston Martin car after she told him her dream was to drive one.

Former athlete Mr Wells, who received an MBE for charity work last year, promised to hire one for a day if she qualified for the final.

Katarina Johnson-Thompson is patron of the Barrie Wells Trust

Mr Wells, whose grandfather was former pole vault world record holder Ernest Latimer Stones, said he personally helped fund 20 athletes including Ennis-Hill, gymnast Beth Tweddle and Johnson-Thompson at the London 2012 Olympics.

He said: "Why die rich? Why not use the money and give it away in your own lifetime?

"I pick out exceptional athletes who have lost or don't have funding or are too young for funding.

"I really want to be on their journey."

As well as sponsoring athletes, the financial services entrepreneur has also set up Barrie Wells Trust, a charity he funds himself which provides experiences for seriously ill and disabled children.

Johnson-Thompson, who withdrew from the women's heptathlon at Tokyo 2020 earlier through a calf injury, is patron of the trust.

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