Katarina Johnson-Thompson wins epic duel to regain world heptathlon title
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Katarina Johnson-Thompson used to stare at the three-inch scar snaking down her left achilles tendon and fear that her best days had abandoned her. In truth, we all did. Yet here she was on the banks of the Danube, amid the tears and the doubts and the smiles, waltzing in the joy of becoming world heptathlon champion again.
“This is the best day of my life,” she said, after a comeback so unexpected it took a while for her to believe it was real. . “I had committed to getting my heart broken again, only this time I didn’t.”
Johnson-Thompson knew victory was hers, even before the stadium scoreboard showed her final tally of 6,740 points, 20 ahead of Hall, with Anouk Vetter of the Netherlands third with 6,501 points.
Then came a moment both intimate and cosmic, as she reached over to hug Hall, who had fallen to the floor in exhaustion.“You fought like hell over these last two days, I respect so much how you kept going despite being banged up,” Johnson‑Thompson told her rival. Hall’s response? “It is super inspiring what you have done.”
A few minutes later, when she faced the world’s media, the 30‑year‑old Johnson-Thompson was asked whether she believed she could be a world champion again. “No. I didn’t,” she replied, fighting back more tears. “I just thought I’d fade into the background and be one of those athletes who is just there to make up the numbers.”
But who could blame her given that in 2020 she feared her career was over after tearing her achilles? Then at the Tokyo Olympics she had to leave the track in a wheelchair after tearing her right calf muscle. Truly Johnson‑Thompson could teach Judy Blume a thing or two about heartbreak.
This time, though, she was determined to write a different story. Johnson-Thompson had begun day two in second place, 93 points behind Hall, but immediately laid down a marker with a 6.54m long jump that catapulted her 19 points ahead.
Johnson-Thompson knew she needed more and further applied the squeeze in the javelin with a throw of 46.14m – the best of her career. No wonder she put her hands across her face in a mixture of joy and disbelief. Yet even greater elation was to come.
Shortly afterwards the British team were celebrating another medal as Hughes took a bronze in the 100m. Victory went to the brash American Noah Lyles, who came through in 9.83sec, while the 20-year-old Letsile Tebogo of Botswana took silver in 9.88, the same time as Hughes.