World champion Katarina Johnson-Thompson claims to be back in the medal hunt after her horror run of injuries, writes Alex Spink in Eugene.
Ahead of her title defence here, Britain’s multi-events queen had a defiant message for her heptathlon rivals.
“I don’t want to just go to compete,” said the Liverpudlian. “I want to be in the medal hunt.
“Winning this in 2019 seems so long ago now but if it’s been done before it can be done again.”
Johnson-Thompson has no form to speak of as she embarks on back-to-back heptathlons with her Commonwealth crown also on the line in Birmingham.
But she warned: “I don’t care about pressure these days. I’m not striving for 7,000 points this year, I just want to get the performances out and get the medals.”
You have to admire the fight of an athlete who, for all her success, has too often had to get back up off the canvas after being floored by adversity.
Tokyo should have been her Olympics coming off the back of winning the Worlds in Doha, only for the pandemic to change everything.
By the time Tokyo got to stage sport’s greatest show, KJT’s moment had passed, courtesy of a ruptured Achilles which made even getting to Japan a triumph.
Her body failed her midway through the competition, since when she has been unable to finish a pentathlon at the World Indoor Champs and posted her second lowest heptathlon score in a decade in Gotzis.
That led the 29-year old to pull the plug on her short-lived association with Florida-based coach Petros Kyprianou, returning home to link up with Aston Moore.
“It just wasn't working for me out there,” she said. “Looking ahead to Paris [2024 Olympics] I wanted to make these decisions sooner rather than later.”
Some suspect these Worlds have come too soon, but she countered: “It’s sport, you never know.
“It is difficult because the Achilles rupture was on my left ankle which is my take-off leg for high jump and long jump..
“But the heptathlon can be put together in many different ways. I feel my speed is back and I hope with age comes good power in the shot put and the javelin as well.
“This is the longest run I’ve had with no injury leading into a champs that I can remember. I’m happy with my training, happy I’m building into something.
“Hopefully I’ll just let the championship me take over.
“I’m starting to get excited to compete and excited with the thought of Eugene, instead of ‘oh, I’m running out of time!’”
* Nijel Amos, second to world record-breaking David Rudisha in the historic London 2012 800m Olympic final, has been suspended after testing positive for a banned substance.
