Georgia wide receiver Rodarius "Rara" Thomas was arrested early Friday morning on multiple family violence charges and was being held in the Athens-Clarke County Jail, according to jail records.

Thomas, a senior from Eufaula, Alabama, was charged with cruelty to children-family violence, a second-degree felony, and two misdemeanor counts of battery-family violence. He was jailed at 3:20 a.m. ET Friday and is being held without bond.

"This is a pending legal matter, and we'll have no further comment," Georgia athletic department spokesperson Steven Drummond told ESPN.

Under University of Georgia Athletic Association guidelines, Thomas faces an immediate suspension after being charged with a felony.

It is Thomas' second arrest on family violence charges since transferring to Georgia from Mississippi State in 2023.

In January 2023, Thomas was arrested by University of Georgia police and accused of felony false imprisonment because he allegedly confined and detained a person "without legal authority by standing in front of the dorm room door, blocking the exit, telling her she cannot leave," according to an arrest warrant obtained by ESPN at the time.

Thomas was also accused of misdemeanor battery because he allegedly "did intentionally cause visible bodily harm [by] causing bruising to the right biceps and bruising and abrasion to her shins."

Those criminal charges were dropped by Athens-Clarke County District Attorney Deborah Gonzalez on March 8 after Thomas successfully completed a pretrial diversion program.

Thomas started eight games for the Bulldogs last season, catching 23 passes for 383 yards with one touchdown. He was sidelined for three games with a broken foot.

He was expected to be an integral part of Georgia's passing game this season after star tight end Brock Bowers and wide receiver Ladd McConkey departed for the NFL.

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- The New England Patriots and safety Jabrill Peppers are finalizing a three-year extension with a base value of $24 million that can be worth up to $30 million, a source told ESPN's Field Yates.

Patriots coach Jerod Mayo confirmed the extension before the team's Friday practice at training camp.

"He really embodies everything that you want on the field. He's very selfless out there, flying around all the time, and it's good to get that deal done," Mayo said.

The 5-foot-11, 217-pound Peppers teams with Kyle Dugger to form a hard-hitting, and now highly paid, combination at safety. Dugger signed a four-year, $58 million extension earlier in the offseason after initially being assigned the transition tag by the Patriots.

The extension continues an offseason theme for the Patriots, who have re-signed or extended the contracts of 11 players. Their cash spending ranks in the top 10 of the NFL.

Peppers started 15 games last season and finished with 75 tackles (50 solo) and two interceptions. He initially joined the Patriots in April 2022.

Peppers, who played at Michigan, entered the NFL as a first-round pick of the Cleveland Browns in 2017. He was traded to the New York Giants in March 2019.

He has played in 93 NFL games, with 79 starts.

As the countdown continues for Team USA men's basketball's quest for gold at the 2024 Paris Olympics, the intensity during their practices is reaching new heights.

On Thursday, the Minnesota Timberwolves posted a photo on social media of guard Anthony Edwards welcoming Phoenix Suns forward Kevin Durant to the court with a poster during a scrimmage.

friendly fire. pic.twitter.com/QlhXdNi7U9

Minnesota Timberwolves (@Timberwolves) July 25, 2024

The viral post has received 232,000 views and counting.

Durant, who sat out of Team USA's five USA Basketball showcase exhibitions due to a calf injury during training camp, returned to the hardwood Wednesday where he met Edwards at the rim.

After the post circulated on social media, Durant responded to the dunk by quoting an August 2018 tweet from New Orleans Pelicans guard CJ McCollum when he replied to a fan who challenged him to "win a playoff game."

"I tried Jennifer"

Kevin Durant

Edwards, though, has the utmost respect for Durant and told ESPN's Malika Andrews he views the 14-time NBA All-Star as his "GOAT."

"I've always been a fan [of] watching him play as a kid," Edwards said. "He's the first 7-footer that I've seen like putting the ball on the floor, scoring off the dribble so I've always been a big fan."

This isn't the first time Edwards has dunked on Durant. In Game 4 of the Western Conference first round, Edwards met Durant at the rim after blowing by Bradley Beal. This play helped the Timberwolves sweep the Suns to make it as far as the Western Conference finals in the 2024 NBA playoffs.

Team USA's road to Olympic gold begins Sunday against Nikola Jokic and Serbia at 11:15 A.M. EST.

PARIS -- The most competitive international men's basketball tournament in history is finally here.

Just being one of the 12 teams to qualify for the 2024 Olympics is a major accomplishment. There are loaded teams and world-class players who are wishing they were in France now, including the Luka Doncic-led Slovenia squad that reached the semifinals in Tokyo three years ago, but lost in a pre-Olympic qualifying tournament earlier this month.

Here's a look at what you need to know to get ready for the tournament, which tips off Saturday with Australia vs. Spain (11 a.m. local time/5 a.m. ET).

The 12 nations competing for gold will be divided into three groups of four teams for the opening round. Each team plays the other three in its group. The teams with the two best records in each group will advance to the quarterfinals. Ties are broken by head-to-head competition and then point differential.

The two best third-place squads of the three groups also advance, which is where point differential often makes the biggest difference, so winning matters, but winning big matters too (something NBA fans became familiar with during last season's inaugural in-season tournament).

The eight teams that eventually advance to the quarterfinals that start on Aug. 6 will likely create an unpredictable and talent-rich knockout round.

MORE: Everything to know about Team USA

The favorite

Team USA is the betting favorite (-400 at ESPN BET). The Americans have won the past four gold medals and seven of eight since NBA players were allowed to compete in 1992. Team architect Grant Hill has brought arguably the deepest 12-man club in the program's history to Paris. However, Team USA's gold in Tokyo in 2021 was very hard-fought run and illustrated how the margin for error has shrunk. Three years ago, the Kevin Durant-led squad lost to France in the group stage and managed just a five-point victory in the gold medal game.

In the lead-up to the Olympics this summer, three of the team's five exhibition games weren't decided until the final minute or two, including a one-point win over a South Sudan team it will see again next week. Head coach Steve Kerr, who was an assistant three years ago in Tokyo, called on the team to raise its intensity level as it arrived in Paris.

"That's what today is about," he said on Thursday after the team's film session. "It's the reminder. It's time. We're here. So it's got to be 40 minutes of force and attention and focus, and we can't let teams outplay us effort- and energy-wise."

Even by Team USA standards, this team has minimal time to jell. Only two players, Anthony Edwards and Tyrese Haliburton, played in the World Cup last summer. Only five -- Durant, Jrue Holiday, Bam Adebayo, Devin Booker and Jayson Tatum -- played in 2021 in Tokyo, and Durant missed the entire exhibition schedule nursing a sore calf. LeBron James has not played for Team USA since the 2012 Olympics in London, and Stephen Curry is playing in his first Olympics (he did play in the 2010 and 2014 FIBA World Cups).

The top contenders:

Canada has 10 current NBA players on its roster and a loaded backcourt with NBA MVP runner-up Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and NBA champion Jamal Murray, plus a host of wings who -- not coincidentally -- are ideal to beat the Americans. Perhaps equally as important, the Canadians have stressed continuity and have logged more time together than their American counterparts as they try to bridge the talent/chemistry divide that Team USA always fights. However, they headline the "Group of Death" and face a brutal road to the gold medal game.

Serbia has Nikola Jokic, a three-time NBA MVP who has kept Team USA up at night worrying. It also possess NBA-level guards, something many European powers can't say. Jokic and Atlanta Hawks guard Bogdan Bogdanovic have a ton of national team experience dating to Rio 2016, when the Serbs took the silver. Also, and perhaps most important, they may get three looks at Team USA. Once in the exhibition season, once in pool play and potentially once for a medal. The coach is old master Svetislav Pešić, who surprised many last year in leading the team to a silver in the World Cup without Jokic.

Australia won its first medal in Tokyo -- a bronze -- but this year's team had slightly lower expectations. But it was very impressive during pre-Olympic games, which has elevated Australia's chances in France. Josh Giddey has established himself as the centerpiece of the team and he racks up stats attacking the rim and distributing. Veteran coach Brian Goorjian has expertly prepared the team and veteran guard Patty Mills, playing in his fifth Olympics, remains dangerous as an explosive scorer, putting up 28 points in an exhibition win over Jokic and Serbia earlier this month.

Could steal a medal

France took the silver in Tokyo, but has had a disappointing 12 months. Last year, it didn't make it out of pool play at the World Cup. Then, even when adding Victor Wembanyama to the team for the first time in a major competition, it looked less impressive in losing four times in pre-Olympic games even though all of them were played in France. The front line of Wembanyama and Rudy Gobert -- the top-two finishers in NBA Defensive Player of the Year voting last season -- is scary for opponents, but the French are lacking in the backcourt and it really shows on this stage. Only three of the team's guards -- Frank Ntilikina, Nando De Colo and Evan Fournier -- have NBA experience. They are playing at home and they must be respected, but they are not as feared as four years ago -- or if they had secured the services of Joel Embiid, who is instead playing for Team USA.

Germany is such a well-built and experienced team, it doesn't feel great assigning it in this category. But it is an indication of how deep this tournament is. The Germans were impressive in winning the World Cup last summer. They've got that super valuable mix of a dominant lead guard, international star Dennis Schroeder, and a gigantic and talented front line with NBA players Franz Wagner, Moritz Wagner and Daniel Theis. Their veteran coach, Gordy Herbert, has proved to be brilliant at constructing and preparing his team.

Biggest pool play games

• USA vs. Serbia, Sunday, 11:15 a.m. ET. A potential preview of the gold medal game, though the Americans dominated an exhibition earlier this month, winning 105-79.

• Spain vs. Greece, Tuesday, 5 a.m. ET. Giannis Antetokounmpo wept when Greece qualified this month by beating Croatia. Winning this one would go a long way toward advancing to the medal round, where the Greek squad is looking for its first Olympic medal.

• Canada vs. Australia, Tuesday, 7:30 a.m. ET. A major "Group of Death" showdown that could determine who advances to the medal round. Canada hasn't medaled since winning silver at the first Olympic basketball tournament in 1936.

• Canada vs. Spain, Aug. 2, 11:15 a.m. ET. Canada coach Jordi Fernandez, the new head coach of the Brooklyn Nets, could need to secure a win over his home country to advance.

• France vs. Germany, Aug. 2, 3 p.m. ET. A classic European battle between teams loaded with big men with significant stakes. It should be noted that no host nation has advanced beyond the group stage since China in 2008.

The Minnesota Twins returned infielder Royce Lewis from his rehab assignment on Friday and reinstated him from the 10-day injured list.

Lewis, 25, missed the Twins' last 16 games with a right adductor strain. He went 1-for-6 with a double in two games this week with Triple-A St. Paul.

Lewis is batting .292 with 10 home runs and 18 RBIs in 24 games this season with Minnesota.

In parts of three seasons with the Twins, Lewis is batting .303 with 27 home runs and 75 RBIs in 94 games.

Also on Friday, the Twins optioned catcher Jair Camargo to St. Paul.

Camargo, 26, is 0-for-6 with three strikeouts in five games this season with the Twins.

The Boston Red Sox acquired left-hander James Paxton from the Los Angeles Dodgers for minor league infielder Moises Bolivar on Friday, attempting to fortify their rotation as they chase a playoff spot in a wide-open American League landscape.

The deal for Paxton, 35, comes after Los Angeles designated him for assignment Monday. Paxton had thrown 89 innings of 4.43 ERA ball over 18 starts, helping stabilize an injury-riddled rotation as he'd done in 2023 with Boston.

Paxton's return to the Red Sox, whom he left to sign a one-year, $7 million free agent deal with Los Angeles, gives Boston seven potential starting pitchers, with Tanner Houck, Kutter Crawford, Nick Pivetta, Brayan Bello, Cooper Criswell and Josh Winckowski, who is currently pitching out of the bullpen.

The Red Sox's surprising run -- they're one game back of Kansas City for the final AL wild-card spot -- has left the team looking to improve on the margins. While Paxton's acquisition by no means signals the Red Sox will add significantly before the Tuesday trade deadline, it illustrates new chief baseball officer Craig Breslow's desire to augment a group that has outplayed expectations and helped earn manager Alex Cora a three-year contract extension.

Starting pitching has been a particular target for Boston, even as the trade market was slow to move before Thursday's deals that sent left-handed reliever A.J. Puk to the Arizona Diamondbacks and outfielder Randy Arozarena to the Seattle Mariners.

The acquisition of Paxton -- whose expected numbers are far worse than his performance -- brings even more depth to a young rotation headlined by Houck, a first-time All-Star this season. Though Paxton's 64-to-48 strikeout-to-walk ratio is among the worst in the big leagues, he was surprisingly effective nevertheless, and the Dodgers let Paxton go because of a roster crunch that saw starters Tyler Glasnow and Clayton Kershaw return this week.

The Dodgers expect right-handers Walker Buehler and Bobby Miller to come back from the injured list soon as well, leaving them with those four, plus rookies Gavin Stone, Landon Knack, Justin Wrobelski and River Ryan as potential starters. Right-hander Yoshinobu Yamamoto remains on the IL with a shoulder injury and no firm return date.

Bolivar, 17, was signed by the Red Sox in 2024. In 31 games with the Dominican Summer League Red Sox Blue this season, the right-handed hitter has batted .270 with a .787 OPS while making 23 starts at third base, three at first base, and five as the designated hitter.

Join the AW team and special guest Dame Kelly Holmes to look ahead to Paris 2024 and step back in time to the game-changing LA Olympics of 1984

The Paris 2024 Summer Olympics are the first in the events history to be fully gender equal, with an even number of places being offered to male and female competitors. The logo for the Games is, the organisers say, a homage a homage to female athletes and a nod to history, as it was in 1900 at the Olympic Games in Paris that women were first allowed to compete.

Its fitting, then, that the first episode of the brand new Athletics Weekly podcast focuses not only on the events to come in the French capital over the coming weeks, but also on the female athletes who have changed the face of athletics.

This episode sees AW Editorial Director Euan Crumley joined by Managing Director and Olympic medallist Wendy Sly, as well as Head of Digital Jason Henderson. There is also a special guest appearance from 2004 double Olympic champion Dame Kelly Holmes, who gives her thoughts on the chances of this years 800m gold medal favourite Keely Hodgkinson.

The team pinpoint some of the major events to come in the Olympic schedule and the athletes likely to stand out, but there is also a journey back in time by 40 years to LA 1984, the edition that many people see as having created the Olympics as we now know them. It was part of a golden age for athletics and Wendy relives what it was like behind the scenes and on the Coliseum track during a landmark Games for female athletes.

Will the 2024 Games also stand out? Start your journey to the Paris Olympics with The Athletics Weekly Podcast.

Newly-created digital vault is an Aladdins Cave of vintage reports, results, interviews and photographs dating back to 1945

Has your name or photograph appeared in Athletics Weekly in the past? If so, have you ever felt the urge to get hold of a copy of that old issue?

Or maybe you simply enjoy the idea of browsing our vintage magazines to read about the athletes of yesteryear or to unearth some old results that interest you?

It is all possible now with all of our magazines on our website in digital format.

From the first ever issue in December 1945 through to the present day, current subscribers to our magazine are able to dip into this resource for free whereas non-subscribers can pay just 3.99 per month for full access.

There are close to 4000 issues in our archive vaults. Want to read our original coverage from the 1948 London Olympics? Or Roger Bannisters first sub-four-minute mile? Or our reports and photos of Bob Beamons world record-breaking long jump and Dick Fosburys famous flop in 1968? Its all here.

How about Seb Coe and Steve Ovetts exploits in the 1970s and 1980s? Or more recent issues packed with in-depth reports and images galore in the 1990s and turn of the millennium from grassroots club and schools events right through to major championships including, of course, London 2012? The archive lets you select individual issues, or you can search for key names, with the issues opening as PDFs.

We have spent recent years putting together this archive with hundreds of thousands of pages painstakingly scanned and then uploaded to our site. We couldnt have done it either without generous help and support from the International Athletics Foundation and World Athletics Heritage.

Only one question remains. Which year and issue will you start looking for first?

Access the archive here

Teenagers will face tough competition from the rest of the world in the big junior event in late August

Sprint hurdler Daniel Goriola, distance runner Innes FitzGerald and Nia Wedderburn-Goodison are among the British team selected for the World Under-20 Championships in Lima, Peru, on August 27-31.

Some athletes from the recent European Under-18 Championships in Slovakia such as Thea Brown and Kara Dacosta are also in the squad.

The selection follows the England Athletics Champs for seniors, under-23 and under-20 athletes full results here.

Men

100m: Teddy Wilson (Marvin Rowe, Shaftesbury Barnet); 200m: Jake Odey-Jordan (Victor Blackett); 800m: Henry Jonas (Tim Ash, City of Norwich); William Rabjohns (Mark Pauley, Poole); 1500m: George Couttie (Joanne Day, Harrogate); Alex Riley (Allison Benton, Brighton & Hove); 3000m: Ed Bird (Mark Pauley, Poole); Henry Dover (Shaftesbury Barnet): 110m Hurdles: Daniel Goriola (Tony Jarrett, Blackheath and Bromley); Noah Hanson (Carl Graham, Newham & Essex Beagles); 400m Hurdles: Sam Lunt (Wirral); 4x100m: Rhys Elias (Martin White, Mansfield); Jake Odey-Jordan (Victor Blackett); Dean Patterson (David Watson, Glasgow Jaguars); Fabian Powell (James Wright, Rugby & Northampton); Joel Masters (Jon Humphries-Cuff, BFT Track Academy); Teddy Wilson (Marvin Rowe, Shaftesbury Barnet); Pole Vault: Will Lane (Trevor Fox, Sheffield & Dearne)

Women

100m: Mabel Akande (Denise Timmis, Lincoln Wellington); Nia Wedderburn-Goodison (Ryan Freckleton, Harrow); 200m: Kissiwaa Mensah (Prince Duwai, Chelmsford); Renee Regis (Darren Braithwaite, Shaftesbury Barnet); 400m: Kara Dacosta (Stephen Ball, Trafford); Charlotte Henrich (Nigel Stickings, Invicta East Kent): 1500m: Ava Lloyd (Trevor Painter, Wigan & District); 3000m: Jessica Bailey (Matthew Long, Leven Valley); Innes FitzGerald (Gavin Pavey, Exeter); 5000m: Innes FitzGerald (Gavin Pavey, Exeter); Lizzie Wellsted (Colchester)

100m Hurdles: Thea Brown (Joanne Harding, Sale Harriers Manchester); Mia McIntosh (Jake Awe, Harrow); 4x100m: Mabel Akande (Denise Timmis, Lincoln Wellington); Faith Akinbileje (John Blackie, Blackheath and Bromley); Kissiwaa Mensah (Prince Duwai, Chelmsford); Renee Regis (Darren Braithwaite, Shaftesbury Barnet); Nia Wedderburn-Goodison (Ryan Freckleton, Harrow); Jasmine Wilkins (Mike Bennett, Bedford & County)

4x400m: Jessica Astill (Paul Keeble, Stevenage & North Herts); Kara Dacosta (Stephen Ball, Trafford); Rebecca Grieve (Francis Smith, Woodford Green Essex Ladies); Charlotte Henrich (Nigel Stickings, Invicta East Kent); Emma Holmes (Victor Oyesola, West Cheshire); Nandy Kihuyu (John Henson, Sheffield & Dearne): Shot Put: Cleo Agyepong (John Hillier, Blackheath and Bromley); Javelin: Ayesha Jones (Janina Pawnall, Marshall Milton Keynes); Hammer: Angela McAuslan-Kelly (Michelle Eisenreich, Thames Valley); Combined Events: Eden Robinson (Christian North, North Devon)

Coach Trevor Painter and Keely Hodgkinson on learning to deal with success, the potential still to be realised and the path towards Olympic 800m gold in Paris

Searing speed. A grit and determination to push herself to greater heights. Good, old fashioned natural ability. These are all reasons for Keely Hodgkinsons Olympic 800m rivals to be fearful. Her coach Trevor Painter has identified another, though.

Were starting to see the old Keely again, he smiles. She has definitely come to terms with things. She is a lot bubblier, happier and effervescent again.

That has not always been the case since the then 19-year-old sped into the sporting spotlight at the Tokyo Games three years ago, breaking the British record as she flew down an inside line to secure 800m silver.

After that race her world, and Painters, changed almost instantly. Hodgkinson went from the unknown of whom little was expected to being one of the biggest British success stories of those Games. She recently admitted to having experienced a period of depression as she tried to come to terms with the post-Olympic comedown and her new status as a young woman in demand.

Hodgkinson is a keen Manchester United fan and Painter draws parallels to Sir Alex Ferguson, the legendary manager at Old Trafford, when discussing how he and his wife fellow coach and former international athlete Jenny Meadows tried to help her deal with it all.

She has been through some tough times in the last couple of years but its hard to come to terms with all of that at a young age, he says. We see it in football, with young kids bursting on to the scene. I know Fergie was always really good at protecting Ryan Giggs in the early days and didnt want him to have much attention.

Suddenly youve got all these people wanting to talk to you and money on the table for this, that and the other, and it can be daunting when you are trying to train and run. She has managed it really well.

Painter believes a happy athlete is a fast athlete and by that measure Hodgkinsons recent performances would suggest a high level of contentment. The 22-year-old has got back into some old habits, such as winding her fellow training partners up, laughing and joking again.

There has been nothing funny about her work on the track in 2024, though. Fuelled by the frustration of silver medals at the 2022 and 2023 World Championships when a global title felt very much within reach, not to mention a winter disrupted by serious injury, the reigning European champion has been on a mission this summer.

She opened her season in May at the Prefontaine Classic and surged to a then world lead of 1:55.78, beating world champion Mary Moraa in the process. A successful defence of her European title in Rome followed and, going into Paris, Hodgkinson is still the fastest woman over 800m this year after a spectacular send-off at the London Diamond League that saw her destroy her own national record with a time of 1:54.61.

I think you can see it in my performances, she says when asked if that series of silvers is helping to drive her on. When I stepped out in Eugene I was really determined to get the win there. That was a good opportunity to see where we were at. Going into London I just wanted to give it my all. To knock 0.7 off my national record is just so great. The way I ran it as well, leading the whole way, I think there could be more in there. It shows how much work Ive put in and how much I want it.

There is, Painter says, more to come. Its easy to forget that Hodgkinson is still only 22 and with plenty of scope for development. He first came across her at the track in Leigh, Greater Manchester, albeit in an event at which she was less naturally gifted.

She was competing for her school, says Painter. Theyd put her in the shot put and shes not got the biggest arms, but she did all right. I remember saying she looked like Lynsey Sharp, who was Jennys big rival at the time. She stuck in our mind, though. She was Keely then playful, having a laugh with her mates, shes very social. A few years later we started talking with her mum, who was asking for a lot of advice.

The rest is history and now Painter finds himself as mentor to an athlete he believes could be on the verge of making history in more ways than one. The controversial mark of 1:53.28 by Jarmila Kratochvilova, set in 1983, remains as the world record but it is a figure that is starting to come into the realms of the possible for Hodgkinson.

When she ran 1:54 in London, I jokingly said to her dad: You know, shes only going to peak between 27 and 31 years old, says Painter. My philosophy is that we start with speed and were working more like a 400m runner at the moment. Were not doing anywhere near as much mileage as some people, but that will filter in once she gets to, say, 24. If we can keep the speed and develop the aerobic side as well, thats when well go really quick.

With shoe technologies developing the way they are, she already thinks she can run 1:53, which is fabulous to have that belief and I believe she can. Before she retires, shell run 1:53 whether she gets the record, well see, but well give it a go.

The footwear is indeed playing its part in the rapid advancement of middle distance times and Hodgkinson will line up on a purple Mondo surface in Paris that is being trumpeted as being even faster than the Tokyo track that saw records tumbling.

On her feet will be Nikes Victory spikes, a shoe that she had previously avoided opting for first the Dragonfly and then Maxfly but has played a part in developing.

We have done a lot of talking and innovation with the Nike team in Oregon over the past two years, she says. [They asked] Why dont you wear the Victory? Well, because theyre not very good. The old ones werent as stable and my foot moved around a lot.

It was really cool to be involved in those conversations with the creative people behind the scenes making the shoes and how they want to really benefit the athletes. So I put the new ones on and they were great. I wear them all the time now.

Those same meetings provided a glimpse into the future of footwear. To some, technological advancements are wreaking havoc with athletics. To Painter, however, it is to be embraced.

We have seen some prototypes of whats coming up soon and theyre like something from Back to the Future, he says. They are a bit weird, but theyll probably set the word alight when they come out in the next few years.

Without this progression in the technology you wouldnt see the times that were getting. I do feel sorry for the athletes from the past because that didnt have those shoes. What could they have done if they had them as well?

Its an exciting time for the sport and theres a lot of ingenuity going into the way the tracks are laid, too, because it helps you. On some tracks you wouldnt go anywhere near as quick if you went in the wrong direction because its set up to propel you.

Everythings designed to help the athletes run faster so its good to welcome that sort of technology in.

It will certainly be a talking point in Paris, though its Hodgkinsons ambition to be the one creating the headlines again. With defending champion Athing Mu having failed to qualify for Team USA, the path to gold is a little clearer, albeit the likes of Moraa and also Hodgkinsons Team GB colleague Jemma Reekie will be planning to have a say in the medal shakedown.

But when asked if he thinks his athlete is prepared for the even greater attention that will come her way were she to come out on top, Painter jokes: It just means she can buy more Louis Vuitton handbags, so shell be happy.

However, he adds: She is still very young but she has matured massively. She said herself that when she won that medal at the Olympics, it was like she has lost like five years of childhood, or her teenage years, because she got thrust into this other world. But, like I said, she has now come to terms with it and I think shed be fine now.

It will indeed be a different version of Keely Hodgkinson that stands on that Olympic start line this time around. What would 2024 Keely say to her 19-year-old self?

Thats a deep question, she responds. I wouldnt believe Im in this position now, even being 19 and doing what I did then. Im still kind of the same person just wanting to do my best, training really hard and seeing how fast I can really go. I wouldnt say much, just keep doing what Im doing really. Its worked out so far.

Its trusting the process and the team. Its easy to get carried away with comparison and wondering what other people are doing. From what Ive done, every year Ive trusted Trevor and weve ended up in the right place at the right time. Im stronger and faster each year. Im really grateful for that. Long may it continue.

Painter takes heart not only from the performances hes seen from Hodgkinson but also some of the circumstances in which shes produced them. She stubbornly defied doctors orders, for example, in deciding to contest that European final in Rome in June when she was suffering with a head cold and sore throat. It was a risk, given that it could have resulted in an unhelpful defeat but she was not to be denied.

Theres something special about Keely, says Painter. Shes very strong when she wants to do it. She almost manifests situations and performances. When she believes in herself, shes very, very hard to beat, so you just keep her happy and healthy and let her do the rest.