FROM THE depths of despair to the top of the world, Katarina Johnson-Thompson’s brilliant Budapest bullion caps one of Britain’s greatest sporting comeback stories.
It would have been so easy, and few would have blamed her, had KJT chucked in the heptathlon at several points in the four years since she first won a world title.
ReutersKatarina Johnson-Thompson has capped a remarkable comeback[/caption]
GettyJohnson-Thompson of Team Great Britain won gold in the women’s heptathlon[/caption]
GettyDelighted Johnson-Thompson celebrates her incredible moment[/caption]
For so long, heartbreak had been the overriding emotion for this injury-hit, out-of-luck 30-year-old.
To name but a few adversities, there had been a ruptured Achilles, career-saving surgeries, Covid isolation, coaching changes and training-base switches.
Tears flowed when she hit rock-bottom – that horrible moment when she completed only three of the seven events at the Tokyo Olympics due to a right calf injury.
It explains why this stunning victory by the Danube means so much for her, the British squad and track-and-field back in the UK.
It proves that however bad things can get, however low you reach, it is possible to recapture past glories.
Now some may argue that the field was missing the injured Nafi Thiam, the two-time Olympic and world champion.
But do you honestly think Johnson-Thompson cares?
It was about time she earned a major slice of good fortune.
After all that she has been through, the chance to win a medal of any colour gives her the sweetest of redemptions arcs.
Overnight, Johnson-Thompson had been in second place after four events, lying 93 points behind the American Anna Hall, who had her left calf strapped up.
On day two of competition, the long jump and javelin were pivotal events – and the Brit excelled at both.
A leap of 6.54 metres under a baking hot Hungarian sun put her top of the 21-woman field.
And then her javelins, often seen as her weakest event, flew through the air so smoothly and confidently.
A mark of 46.14 metres represented a personal best and was only bettered by six others strongwomen.
It was 1.81 metres further than what she produced a year ago at the Birmingham Commonwealth Games.
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Heading into the 800m, the seventh and final discipline, she had a 26-point lead over Dutchwoman Anouk Vetter.
It was tight between her and Colorado runner Hall, 22, and until the last 200m of the 800m, she was behind in the standings.
But by finishing just 1.54 seconds seconds behind, she was able to cement her position as the number one heptathlete in the world.