Trevor Painter and Keely Hodgkinson
Trevor Painter has received the Coaching Achievement Award, becoming the first winner to be announced as part of the World Athletics Awards 2024.
The British coach has been guiding athletes for almost a quarter of a century. He has coached more than 30 athletes to international level, including the women’s 800m champion at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, Keely Hodgkinson.
Painter is the founder and head coach of the M11 Track Club, a professional track & field team based in Manchester, UK, that specialises in the 400m, 800m and 1500m events. The team currently includes 19 international athletes – eight of those competed at the Paris Games and three won Olympic medals in the French capital.
Following her three successive silver medals at the Olympic Games in Tokyo and the past two World Championships, Painter guided Hodgkinson to her first senior global gold as she won the 800m at the Paris Olympics in 1:56.72. She had gone into the race as the favourite to win, having clocked a world-leading British record of 1:54.61 at the Wanda Diamond League meeting in London – a time that has remained the fastest of the year and moved Hodgkinson to sixth on the world all-time list.
Two places behind Hodgkinson in London was her fellow Painter-coached athlete Georgia Bell, who ran a PB of 1:56.28 – the fourth-fastest time of the year – and went on to claim Olympic 1500m bronze in Paris in a British record of 3:52.61. That performance completed a remarkable return for Bell, who made a comeback after quitting athletics in 2017.
Painter’s third Olympic medallist in Paris was Lewis Davey, who formed part of GB’s bronze medal-winning men’s 4x400m team after claiming world silver and bronze relay medals in Budapest in 2023.
Passionate about the work he undertakes and the mentorship he provides, Painter has also become an ambassador in helping athletes to transition from their own professional careers into coaching. One of Painter’s first major successes was coaching his wife Jenny Meadows to world 800m bronze in 2009 and she now works alongside Painter as a coach at the M11 Track Club.
Other athletes and coaches to have been mentored by Painter include Paralympic medallist Graeme Ballard, world relay medallist Kirsten McAslan, nine-time Danish champion Annemarie Nissen, Darren Borthwick, Danny Kevan and Aneta Lemiesz.
The Coaching Achievement Award recognises coaches who have made outstanding achievements and contributions to develop, encourage and strengthen coaching at all levels in athletics.
As well as his work guiding some of the world’s best athletes, Painter regularly speaks at conferences and on podcasts, both nationally and internationally. He achieved his MSc in Elite Coaching Practice at the University of Central Lancashire.
“2024 has been such a wonderful debut year for M11 Track Club, with many standout performances,” said Painter. “In Paris, we achieved more than our wildest dreams. Keely finally getting that gold was a wonderful start to the week and then for Georgia Bell to add a bronze in the women’s 1500m followed by a men’s 4x400m bronze for Lewis Davey, it turned into an incredible week.
“I would like to thank everybody at World Athletics for this award. It’s a huge honour to join some of the legendary names that have won this in the past. I would also like to thank everyone that has helped behind the scenes with M11 Track Club, none more so than my wife, Jenny Meadows. Hopefully we can continue to build on what the team has already achieved.”
The Coaching Achievement Award is the first of the honours celebrated as part of the World Athletics Awards 2024. Further announcements will be made this weekend, with the World Athletes of the Year and Rising Stars being revealed on Sunday (1 December).
World Athletics
