Years of tears over as Johnson-Thompson strikes heptathlon gold
Katarina Johnson-Thompson drew an emphatic line under years of tears when she struck heptathlon gold at the World Championships here Thursday.
The 26-year-old British star had finished her previous two world championships left wondering where it all went wrong, often sobbing alone in her hotel room.
Not any more.
“This is crazy, it’s crazy for me,” Johnson-Thompson said after downing reigning world and Olympic champion Nafissatou Thiam of Belgium to take gold.
Johnson-Thompson finished the seven-discipline event with a world-leading 6,981 points to claim her first major outdoor crown.
Thiam finished with 6,677pts to take silver while Austria’s Verena Preiner claimed bronze with 6,560pts.
It has been a long road to the top for Johnson-Thompson, who was anointed the natural successor to British golden girl and former Olympic champion Jessica Ennis-Hill but had struggled to live up to that billing.
All too often Johnson-Thompson’s medal chances have been scuppered by self-inflicted mistakes, notably at the 2015 World Championships where she fouled three times in the long jump.
Poor performances in the shot put and javelin left her out of the medals at the 2016 Rio Olympics while at the London 2017 World Championships a dire high jump left her out of contention.
“The last two worlds have been heartbreaking,” Johnson-Thompson said. “The last two World Championships, mid-heptathlon, I’ve gone back to my hotel and cried and cried for hours when things have gone badly.
“It was after the high jump in London in 2017 and after the long jump in 2015 in Beijing.
– ‘A lot of bad years’ –
“Those were the low points of my career. Rio Olympics, as well. I’ve had a lot of bad years.
“I’m just so happy I came out in front for a change.
“Everyone’s got their journey. It’s not been very straightforward for me.”
Johnson-Thompson’s fortunes began to change when she relocated to France to work with the same coaching group that handles decathlon world record holder Kevin Mayer.
“I had to move coach. I had to move country (to France), I had to learn a new language and settle in,” she said. “I tore everything up and started again and it’s worked.”
Johnson-Thompson had pulled into a 96-point lead after the first day of competition where she notched two huge improvements on personal bests in the opening four events.
On Thursday, she picked up where she left off, recording a solid 6.77-metre leap on her second jump.
With Thiam only able to manage a longest effort of 6.40m, Johnson-Thompson had widened her lead over her Belgian rival to 216 points heading to the javelin.
Johnson-Thompson, then produced the performance of her life to improve her personal best with a second throw of 43.93, more than a metre further than her previous longest mark.
Thiam, who has been troubled by an elbow injury this season, was unable to overturn the points deficit, fouling on her first throw before recording a second effort of 48.04m, well down on her personal best of 59.32m.
That left Johnson-Thompson firmly in control of the competition with only the 800m to come, leading by 137 points.
Johnson-Thompson made no mistake in the 800m, setting the pace early on and then powering home to win in another personal best of 2min 7.26sec.
| POS | ATHLETE | COUNTRY | POINTS | 100H | HJ | SP | 200 | LJ | JT | 800 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Katarina JOHNSON-THOMPSON |  GBR |
6981 WL | Points Mark Overall |
1111 13.09 (5) 1111 (5) |
1171 1.95 (1) 2282 (1) |
785 13.86 (8) 3067 (2) |
1071 23.08 (1) 4138 (1) |
1095 6.77 (1) 5233 (1) |
743 43.93 (11) 5976 (1) |
1005 2:07.26 (1) 6981 (1) |
| 2 | Nafissatou THIAM |  BEL |
6677 | Points Mark Overall |
1071 13.36 (10) 1071 (10) |
1171 1.95 (2) 2242 (2) |
876 15.22 (1) 3118 (1) |
924 24.60 (12) 4042 (2) |
975 6.40 (4) 5017 (2) |
822 48.04 (6) 5839 (2) |
838 2:18.93 (14) 6677 (2) |
| 3 | Verena PREINER |  AUT |
6560 | Points Mark Overall |
1087 13.25 (7) 1087 (7) |
941 1.77 (10) 2028 (9) |
808 14.21 (5) 2836 (7) |
985 23.96 (5) 3821 (6) |
962 6.36 (5) 4783 (4) |
796 46.68 (8) 5579 (3) |
981 2:08.88 (2) 6560 (3) |
| 4 | Erica BOUGARD |  USA |
6470 | Points Mark Overall |
1123 13.01 (3) 1123 (3) |
1054 1.86 (3) 2177 (3) |
685 12.36 (18) 2862 (5) |
991 23.89 (4) 3853 (4) |
915 6.21 (8) 4768 (5) |
734 43.48 (12) 5502 (7) |
968 2:09.74 (3) 6470 (4) |
| 5 | Kendell WILLIAMS | USA |
6415 | Points Mark Overall |
1189 12.58 (1) 1189 (1) |
941 1.77 (10) 2130 (4) |
708 12.71 (16) 2838 (6) |
1017 23.62 (2) 3855 (3) |
937 6.28 (6) 4792 (3) |
766 45.12 (10) 5558 (4) |
857 2:17.54 (11) 6415 (5) |
| 6 | Nadine BROERSEN |  NED |
6392 SB | Points Mark Overall |
1034 13.61 (15) 1034 (15) |
1016 1.83 (5) 2050 (7) |
844 14.75 (2) 2894 (4) |
861 25.28 (19) 3755 (8) |
918 6.22 (7) 4673 (8) |
868 50.41 (5) 5541 (5) |
851 2:18.01 (12) 6392 (6) |
| 7 | Emma OOSTERWEGEL | NED |
6250 PB | Points Mark Overall |
1028 13.65 (16) 1028 (16) |
941 1.77 (13) 1969 (14) |
774 13.70 (9) 2743 (15) |
878 25.10 (17) 3621 (15) |
810 5.87 (15) 4431 (15) |
938 54.01 (3) 5369 (9) |
881 2:15.86 (6) 6250 (7) |
| 8 | Odile AHOUANWANOU |  BEN |
6210 NR | Points Mark Overall |
1058 13.45 (11) 1058 (11) |
941 1.77 (12) 1999 (12) |
803 14.13 (6) 2802 (8) |
976 24.05 (6) 3778 (7) |
850 6.00 (11) 4628 (9) |
797 46.74 (7) 5425 (8) |
785 2:22.89 (16) 6210 (8) |
| 9 | Géraldine RUCKSTUHL |  SUI |
6159 | Points Mark Overall |
1001 13.84 (17) 1001 (17) |
867 1.71 (17) 1868 (17) |
813 14.28 (4) 2681 (16) |
868 25.21 (18) 3549 (17) |
768 5.73 (18) 4317 (18) |
964 55.35 (1) 5281 (11) |
878 2:16.02 (8) 6159 (9) |
| 10 | Ekaterina VORONINA |  UZB |
6099 | Points Mark Overall |
890 14.64 (19) 890 (19) |
978 1.80 (7) 1868 (17) |
771 13.66 (11) 2639 (18) |
884 25.03 (16) 3523 (19) |
798 5.83 (16) 4321 (17) |
891 51.60 (4) 5212 (13) |
887 2:15.40 (5) 6099 (10) |
| 11 | Hanne MAUDENS | BEL |
6088 | Points Mark Overall |
993 13.90 (18) 993 (18) |
867 1.71 (19) 1860 (19) |
735 13.12 (15) 2595 (19) |
999 23.81 (3) 3594 (16) |
978 6.41 (3) 4572 (11) |
595 36.22 (16) 5167 (16) |
921 2:12.98 (4) 6088 (11) |
| 12 | Chari HAWKINS | USA |
6073 | Points Mark Overall |
1090 13.23 (6) 1090 (6) |
941 1.77 (8) 2031 (8) |
767 13.59 (12) 2798 (9) |
904 24.81 (14) 3702 (11) |
834 5.95 (13) 4536 (14) |
669 40.07 (13) 5205 (14) |
868 2:16.78 (9) 6073 (12) |
| 13 | Annie KUNZ | USA |
6067 | Points Mark Overall |
1084 13.27 (8) 1084 (8) |
978 1.80 (6) 2062 (6) |
833 14.58 (3) 2895 (3) |
945 24.37 (9) 3840 (5) |
834 5.95 (14) 4674 (7) |
579 35.36 (17) 5253 (12) |
814 2:20.68 (15) 6067 (13) |
| 14 | Solène NDAMA |  FRA |
6034 | Points Mark Overall |
1140 12.90 (2) 1140 (2) |
867 1.71 (17) 2007 (11) |
773 13.68 (10) 2780 (10) |
948 24.34 (8) 3728 (9) |
843 5.98 (12) 4571 (12) |
622 37.62 (14) 5193 (15) |
841 2:18.75 (13) 6034 (14) |
| 15 | Noor VIDTS | BEL |
5989 | Points Mark Overall |
1039 13.58 (14) 1039 (14) |
941 1.77 (8) 1980 (13) |
764 13.55 (13) 2744 (14) |
937 24.46 (11) 3681 (13) |
883 6.11 (10) 4564 (13) |
545 33.58 (18) 5109 (18) |
880 2:15.94 (7) 5989 (15) |
| 16 | Kateřina CACHOVÁ |  CZE |
5987 | Points Mark Overall |
1055 13.47 (12) 1055 (12) |
903 1.74 (15) 1958 (15) |
700 12.58 (17) 2658 (17) |
891 24.95 (15) 3549 (17) |
786 5.79 (17) 4335 (16) |
785 46.11 (9) 5120 (17) |
867 2:16.85 (10) 5987 (16) |
| Anouk VETTER | NED |
DNF | Points Mark Overall |
1043 13.55 (13) 1043 (13) |
903 1.74 (15) 1946 (16) |
801 14.10 (7) 2747 (13) |
940 24.43 (10) 3687 (12) |
912 6.20 (9) 4599 (10) |
941 54.17 (2) 5540 (6) |
0 DNS DNF |
|
| Marthe KOALA |  BUR |
DNF | Points Mark Overall |
1117 13.05 (4) 1117 (4) |
903 1.74 (14) 2020 (10) |
746 13.28 (14) 2766 (12) |
953 24.29 (7) 3719 (10) |
988 6.44 (2) 4707 (6) |
621 37.59 (15) 5328 (10) |
0 DNS DNF |
|
| Maria HUNTINGTON |  FIN |
DNF | Points Mark Overall |
1077 13.32 (9) 1077 (9) |
1016 1.83 (4) 2093 (5) |
675 12.21 (19) 2768 (11) |
913 24.72 (13) 3681 (13) |
0 DNS DNF |
0 DNS DNF |
||
| Ivona DADIC | AUT |
DNF | Points Mark Overall |
0 DQ 0 (20) |
0 DNS DNF |
0 DNS DNF |
0 DNS DNF |
| Competition | 100 m hurdles | High jump | Shot put | 200 metres | Long jump | Javelin | 800 metres | Heptathlon[35] | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 Olympic Games | 13.48 | 1.89 m | 11.32 m | 23.73 | 6.19 m | 38.37 m | 2:10.76 | 6267 pts | NJR |
| 2013 World Championships | 13.49 | 1.83 m | 11.52 m | 23.37 | 6.56 m | 40.86 m | 2:07.64 (PB) | 6449 pts | |
| 2015 World Championships | 13.37 | 1.89 m | 12.47 m | 23.08 (PB) | – | 39.52 m | 2:50.73 | 5039 pts | |
| 2016 Olympic Games | 13.48 | 1.98 m (PB) | 11.68 m | 23.25 | 6.51 m | 36.36 m | 2:10.47 | 6523 pts | |
| 2017 World Championships | 13.33 | 1.80 m | 12.47 m | 22.86 | 6.56 m | 41.72 m | 2:08.10 | 6558 pts | |
| 2018 Commonwealth Games | 13.54 | 1.87 m | 11.54 m | 23.56 | 6.50 m | 40.46 m | 2:21.24 | 6255 pts | |
| 2018 European Championships | 13.34 | 1.91 m | 13.09 m | 22.88 | 6.68 m | 42.16 m | 2:09.84 | 6759 pts | |
| 2019 World Championships | 13.09 (PB) | 1.95 m | 13.86 m (PB) | 23.08 | 6.77 m | 43.93 m (PB) | 2:07.27 (PB) | 6981 pts | NR |
