In Doha in 2019, Katarina Johnson-Thompson was crowned world champion after the performance of her lifetime. In Eugene, she had to make do with eighth place in the heptathlon, as Nafi Thiam took gold.
Johnson-Thompson’s build-up to the Tokyo Olympics had been hampered by an Achilles injury and then she injured her calf in the competition itself, and admitted she was nowhere near back to her best a year on.
After finishing the heptathlon at the Worlds, she said: “It has been the toughest two years of my life. Mentally this year and physically last year for Tokyo. I can’t expect to come back straight away.
“I am a bit of a dreamer and I thought it could have gone a bit differently but I am happy I am here and healthy and building back to where I want to be. I need to get more training in the bag. I need some consistency and I need to get some confidence back as well.”
Dina Asher-Smith bounced back from the disappointment of finishing an agonising fourth in the final of the 100m to qualify for the 200m semi-finals by finishing second in her heat in a time of 22.56sec.
“I got instructions from my coach to make sure that I ran a smart race and conserved energy for the semi-finals tomorrow and the final in a few days,” she said. “Obviously, I’d have loved to have been on the podium for the 100m but I did some really good runs and I’m super proud of that. This is a different event and you have got to come ready with your A-game.”
There was drama in 100m gold medallist Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce’s heat over the longer distance as she had to fix her wig at the halfway point of the race but still recovered to book her place in the semi-finals.
The Jamaican later explained it was one of 10 wigs she had packed from home for the championships.
Meanwhile, Holly Bradshaw is a doubt for the Commonwealth Games after she suffered a hamstring injury during a freak accident in Eugene. Her pole snapped during her final practice jump, forcing her to retire before the competition on Friday.
