After 20 years, Keely Hodgkinson became the third British woman to win a gold in the Olympics! For a normal person, running for 800m is intimidating. However, for Keely, it’s just another race. Interestingly, the Olympic gold medal winner was spotted wearing a Dallas Cowboys jersey that donned the #21 on it. That’s the number that many Dallas Cowboys fans might swear by. After all, it was worn by Deion Sanders and Ezekiel Elliott at one point. Perhaps that’s what inspired Hodgkinson to break the barrier that was created 2 decades ago.

‘NFL UK and Ireland’ just uploaded a picture on X as Hodgkinson won a gold in women’s 800m. The post said, “Team GB gold medalist Keely Hodgkinson rocking the Zeke #21 @dallascowboysjersey [star emoji]”. The photo shows a happy Hodgkinson as she donned a gold crown with the flag of Great Britain in one hand as she took her country to new heights.

The other photo in the collage shows her wearing a Dallas Cowboys jersey with No. 21 on it. Well, number 21 represents a few of the most prolific players in the Dallas Cowboys’ history. One is the legendary cornerback Deion Sanders, and the other is infamous running back Ezekiel Elliott.

Throughout his 7 seasons with the Dallas Cowboys, the RB, Ezekiel Elliott has donned the no. 21. He changed the digits when he went to the New England Patriots where he started wearing 15. Now, he’s made it back to the Dallas Cowboys, but sadly, he’s left the number 21 behind and will no longer be donning it. He’ll be donning the no. 15 with the Cowboys too.

However, if it weren’t for Deion Sanders, the #21 wouldn’t have been so iconic.

Deion Sanders is symbolic to the Dallas Cowboys and #21

Sanders entered the league with a bang. He had an MLB contract and an NFL contract, but for the most part, the no. 21 stayed with him. He wore the same number through his 5 seasons with the Atlanta Falcons. Moreover, he had the same number when he played with the 49ers for a year. When he moved to the Dallas Cowboys, he kept the legacy number with him and even helped the Cowboys win a Super Bowl, further cementing his name in the Cowboys’ books forever.

He played with Dallas for 5 seasons and moved on to play for the Redskins, keeping the same number on his jersey. He retired in the year 2000 for a while but came back to join the Baltimore Ravens, however, this time with a different jersey number. The point is, football and no. 21 points to only one man, and that’s Deion Sanders.

It also happens that Sanders and Elliott were too fast at their position while they were in their prime. Perhaps, that’s what inspired Keely Hodgkinson to do an 800m race in 1:56.72 and win a gold medal for the Great Britain. But winning is not that easy. Physical prowess and willpower are the key components of a winning personality. You can’t have one without the other. Believing in oneself and having an empowering mindset is what Keely Hodgkinson and Deion Sanders thrive on.

“How much I believed in myself to get that medal in Tokyo, I need to really believe in myself that much to be able to get the gold. I’ve run a million 800s in my life, just go and run another one. And it sounds so simple, because it is. It really is that simple. And I know there’s a lot on the line. Olympic medals can really change my life 100% back then. But I think you just have to get back to the basics of ‘it’s really just another race,'” said Hodgkinson in an interview with High Performance.

It is awfully similar to Deion Sanders’ stream of thoughts. So what made Deion Sanders so successful? Well, he’s really big on the power of “believing.” “I just want people to believe. Whatever you believe, you can achieve. But if you don’t believe, you’re taking yourself out of the game,” said Deion Sanders as he explained his mantra for success.

If you still aren’t convinced by the power of belief, here’s what Tom Brady used to say to his underlings. “If you don’t believe in yourself, why do you think those guys who are looking at you are going to believe in you?”