Katarina Johnson-Thompson

Katarina Johnson-Thompson
Johnson-Thompson in 2018
Personal information
Born (1993-01-09) 9 January 1993
Woolton, Liverpool, Merseyside, England
Height 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)
Weight 150 lb (68 kg)
Sport
Country  Great Britain
 England
Sport Athletics
Event(s) Heptathlon, Pentathlon, High jump
Club Liverpool Harriers
Achievements and titles
Personal best(s) Heptathlon 6,759
Pentathlon 5,000
High jump 1.98 m

Katarina Mary Johnson-Thompson (born 9 January 1993) is an English track and field athlete specialising in the heptathlon. She is the 2015 European Indoor champion in the pentathlon with a British record score of 5000 points, and the 2018 World Indoor champion in the pentathlon. In the Long jump, she is the 2012 World Junior champion and the 2014 World Indoor silver medllist. She also holds the British high jump records with 1.98m outdoors (2016) and 1.97m indoors (2015).

Johnson-Thompson's heptathlon results include finishing 14th at the 2012 London Olympics, fifth at the 2013 World Championships, sixth at the 2016 Rio Olympics and fifth at the 2017 World Championships, She won the gold medal in the heptathlon at the 2018 Commonwealth Games, before winning the silver medal at the 2018 European Championships with a personal best score of 6759 points, which moved her into the World all-time Top 25.

Early life

Johnson-Thompson was born in Woolton, Liverpool, Merseyside.[1] Her father, Ricardo, is Bahamian. Her mother Tracey was a dancer.[2] She attended St Julie's Catholic High School in Woolton and John Moores University in Liverpool.[3][4]

Career

Johnson-Thompson represents Liverpool Harriers and was formerly coached by Mike Holmes.[1] Her development was in part funded by the Wells Sports Foundation set up by Barrie Wells, which gave her access to the foundation's patron, Jessica Ennis (now Dame Jessica Ennis-Hill).

At the 2009 World Youth Championships in Athletics in Brixen, Italy, she won the gold medal in the heptathlon.[4] She missed most of the 2010 athletics season suffering from patellar tendinopathy, also known as jumper's knee.[5][6]

Johnson-Thompson broke Jessica Ennis' British junior record at the Multistars competition held in Desenzano del Garda, Italy in May 2012.[7] Her score of 6007 points was enough to take third position at the event behind Sofía Ifadídou of Greece and French athlete Blandine Maisonnier.[8] The score also meant she had surpassed the 'B' qualifying standard for the 2012 Olympics, however it fell short of the 6,150 points 'A' standard.[7]

Katarina Johnson-Thompson in 2012

In June 2012 Johnson-Thompson achieved the 'A' qualifying standard for the 2012 Olympics by scoring a new personal best of 6,248 points at the TNT – Fortuna Meeting held in the Sletiště Stadium, Kladno, Czech Republic. At the meeting she set six new personal bests across the seven events to beat her previous best score by 241 points.[9]

At the 2012 World Junior Championships in Athletics held in Barcelona, Spain, Johnson-Thompson chose not to compete in the full heptathlon competition to save herself for the Olympics; instead she took part in the long jump—winning a gold medal with a jump of 6.81 metres—and the 100 metres hurdles.[10]

Johnson-Thompson competed for Great Britain at the 2012 Summer Olympics in the women's heptathlon alongside compatriots Jessica Ennis and Louise Hazel at the Olympic Stadium on 3–4 August 2012. She finished in 15th place with a score of 6267.[11]

In early April 2012, alongside Tiffany Porter and Yamile Aldama, she was nominated for "European Athlete of the Month" for March.[12] In September, Johnson-Thompson was nominated for the "European Athletics Rising Star award".[13] In October, she won the "Lillian Board Memorial Award" (for junior women) at the 2012 British Athletics Writers' Association Awards.[14]

In the 2013 IAAF World Championships heptathlon, Johnson-Thompson finished in 5th place. After a first day which left her in 5th place, with a PB in the 200 m, she had an excellent second day with PB's in the Long Jump, Javelin and the 800 m. However, she admitted afterwards that she wished she had set her target of finishing in the Top 8 with more ambition, having finished just 28 points away from bronze medallist Dafne Schippers.[15][16]

On 11 July 2014, Johnson-Thompson set a new long jump personal best of 6.92 m at the Glasgow Diamond League meeting, taking her to number 2 on the British all-time list for the event.[17] Johnson-Thompson won gold at the 2014 edition of the prestigious heptathlon Hypo-Meeting in Götzis[18] with a world leading personal best score of 6682 but missed the Commonwealth Games and the European Championships after suffering a foot injury.[19]

Johnson-Thompson set a new British high jump record with a height of 1.97 metres at the British Indoor Championships in Sheffield on 14 February 2015,[20] surpassing her previous record of 1.96 metres set on 8 February 2014.[21] Prior to Johnson-Thompson, Debbie Marti's 1.95-metre jump had held the record since 1997.

On 21 February 2015, Johnson-Thompson set a new indoor British long jump record with a distance of 6.93 m at the Birmingham Indoor Grand Prix.[22]

In August 2015, Johnson-Thompson finished in 28th place in the heptathlon at the 2015 World Championships in Beijing after three foul jumps in the long jump. She had been lying in second place to Jessica Ennis-Hill after the first day of events.[23]

Johnson-Thompson competed at the 2016 Hypo-Meeting in May of that year, her first major competition since undergoing knee surgery in the autumn of 2015: she finished the competition in sixth with a score of 6,304 points, securing her place at the 2016 Summer Olympics by beating the qualifying standard of 6,200 points.[24]

She missed out on a medal at the Games, taking sixth in the heptathlon, although her performance in the heptathlon high jump of 1.98 m set a new British high jump record, and would have been good enough to take gold in the stand-alone Olympic high jump competition.[25]

In September 2016, UK Athletics confirmed that Johnson-Thompson had split with coach Mike Holmes, having been trained by him since 2008.[26]

She subsequently moved to Montpellier, France, to be coached by a team led by Bertrand Valcin, joining a training group including Olympic decathlon medalist Kévin Mayer and double European heptathlon champion Antoinette Nana Djimou.[27]

On 5–6 August 2017, Johnson-Thompson competed in the heptathlon at the 2017 World Championships in Athletics held in London. After moving to Montpellier, she was expected to land a podium position but was not able to surpass the 1.86 barrier in the heptathlon's high jump, with a successful jump at 1.80 m, which gave her 978 points. In a post heptathlon Day 1 interview, she stated: "High jump is one of my best events, I lost 200 points in just one event so that's massive. I'm massively disappointed but I'm trying to move on. In Day 2, long jump is one of my good events so hopefully I can do well there".[28] Johnson-Thompson finished in 5th place with 6558 points. She also competed in the single high jump event, finishing fifth with a Season's Best jump at 1.95 m.

Johnson-Thompson won the 2018 World indoor pentathlon title and the 2018 Commonwealth Games heptathlon titles,[29] before going on to win a silver medal behind World and Olympic champion Nafi Thiam in the heptathlon at the 2018 European Championships, recording a personal best score of 6759 points,[30] to move into the world all-time Top 25.

International competitions

Katarina Johnson-Thompson competes in the Long Jump event at the Anniversary Games in London, July 2016
Year Competition Venue Position Event Notes
Representing  Great Britain and  England
2009 World Youth Championships Brixen, Italy 1st Heptathlon 5750 pts[31]
European Junior Championships Novi Sad, Serbia 8th Heptathlon 5375
2011 European Junior Championships Tallinn, Estonia 6th Heptathlon 5787
2012 World Junior Championships Barcelona, Spain 1st Long jump 6.81 m
Olympic Games London, United Kingdom 14th Heptathlon 6267 pts
2013 European U23 Championships Tampere, Finland 1st Heptathlon 6215 pts
World Championships Moscow, Russia 5th Heptathlon 6449 pts
2014 World Indoor Championships Sopot, Poland 2nd Long jump 6.81 m
2015 European Indoor Championships Prague, Czech Republic 1st Pentathlon 5000 pts
World Championships Beijing, China 28th Heptathlon 5039 pts
11th Long jump 6.63 m
2016 Olympic Games Rio de Janeiro, Brazil 6th Heptathlon 6523 pts
2017 World Championships London, United Kingdom 5th High jump 1.95 m
5th Heptathlon 6558 pts
2018 World Indoor Championships Birmingham, United Kingdom 1st Pentathlon 4750 pts
Commonwealth Games Gold Coast, Australia 1st Heptathlon 6255 pts
European Championships Berlin, Germany 2nd Heptathlon 6759 pts, PB

Detailed results

Competition 100 m hurdles High jump Shot put 200 metres Long jump Javelin 800 metres Heptathlon[32]
2012 Olympic Games 13.48 1.89 m 11.32 m 23.73 6.19 m 38.37 m 2:10.76 NJR 6267 pts
2013 World Championships 13.49 1.83 m 11.52 m 23.37 6.56 m (PB) 40.86 m (PB) 2:07.64 (PB) 6449 pts
2015 World Championships 13.37 (PB) 1.89 m 12.47 m (PB) 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 (PB) 2:09.84 6759 pts (PB)

Personal bests

Outdoor Personal Bests
Event Record Points Venue Date Notes
100 metres hurdles 13.29 s 1081 Götzis, Austria 27 May 2017 Hypo-Meeting
High jump 1.98 m 1211 Rio de Janeiro, Brazil 12 August 2016 Summer Olympic Games, NR
Shot put 13.14 m 737 Wigan, England 7 May 2016 North of England League Division 2W
200 metres 22.79 s 1100 Götzis, Austria 28 May 2016 Hypo-Meeting
Long jump 6.92 m 1145 Glasgow, Scotland 11 July 2014 Sainsbury's Glasgow Grand Prix
Javelin 42.16 m 709 Berlin, Germany 10 August 2018 European Championships
800 metres 2:07.64 999 Moscow, Russia 13 August 2013 World Championships
Heptathlon 6759 pts Total 6967 Berlin, Germany 10 August 2018 European Championships
Indoor Personal Bests
Event Record Points Venue Date Notes
60 metres 7.50 s - Sheffield, England 18 January 2014 Northern U17/U20/Senior Championships
60 metres hurdles 8.18 s 1088 Prague, Czech Republic 6 March 2015 European Indoor Championships
High jump 1.97 m 1198 Sheffield, England 14 February 2015 British Indoor Championships, NRi
Shot put 12.68 m 706 Birmingham, England 2 March 2018 World Indoor Championships
Long jump 6.93 m 1149 Birmingham, England 21 February 2015 Sainsbury's Grand Prix, NRi
800 metres 2:12.78 924 Prague, Czech Republic 6 March 2015 European Indoor Championships
Pentathlon 5000 pts Total 5053 Prague, Czech Republic 6 March 2015 European Indoor Championships, NRi
  • All information from Power of 10.[31]

References

  1. 1 2 "Katarina Johnson-Thompson". British Olympic Association. Retrieved 12 July 2012.
  2. "Vogue Meets Katarina Johnson-Thompson". vogue. London. Retrieved 4 November 2017.
  3. Wright, Jade (25 July 2012). "Why Halewood teen Katarina Johnson-Thompson is going for gold in the Olympics". Liverpool Echo. Retrieved 4 August 2012.
  4. 1 2 Prentice, David (4 July 2012). "Factfiles on Merseyside's four athletes in Team GB's squad for the Olympics in London". Liverpool Echo. Retrieved 12 July 2012.
  5. Gunderson, Craig (12 January 2012). "Katarina Johnson-Thompson Anticipates Successful 2012". athleticos.org. Retrieved 12 July 2012.
  6. Prentice, David (12 June 2012). "Jessica Ennis tips Katarina Johnson-Thompson for the top after more record breaking heptathlon feats". Liverpool Echo. Retrieved 12 July 2012.
  7. 1 2 "Katarina Johnson-Thompson beats Jessica Ennis's junior record". BBC Sport. 6 May 2012. Retrieved 12 July 2012.
  8. "Results 2012 – heptathlon". IAAF. 6 May 2012. Archived from the original on 14 August 2012. Retrieved 12 July 2012.
  9. Hart, Simon (10 June 2012). "London 2012 Olympics: Jessica Ennis believes Katarina Johnson-Thompson 'can surpass me in the heptathlon'". The Telegraph. Retrieved 12 July 2012.
  10. Prentice, David (27 June 2012). "Katarina Johnson-Thompson to scale back events at World Junior Athletics Championships". Liverpool Echo. Retrieved 12 July 2012.
  11. "Women's Heptathlon". Official site of the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games. Retrieved 5 August 2012.
  12. "Vote for European Athlete of the Month for March". uka.org.uk. 3 April 2012. Retrieved 19 September 2012.
  13. "Nominations announced for 2012 European Athlete of the Year". uka.org.uk. 12 September 2012. Retrieved 19 September 2012.
  14. "Farah and Ennis voted British Athletes of the Year". uka.org.uk. 26 October 2012. Retrieved 28 October 2012.
  15. "World Athletics Championships 2013: Britain's Katarina Johnson-Thompson just misses out on heptathlon bronze". The Daily Telegraph. 13 August 2013. Retrieved 23 August 2015.
  16. "14th IAAF World Championships Timetable by day". iaaf.org. Retrieved 23 August 2015.
  17. liverpoolecho Administrator (11 July 2014). "Liverpool athlete Katarina Johnson-Thompson underlines Commonwealth Games medal potential in style – Liverpool Echo". liverpoolecho. Retrieved 23 August 2015.
  18. "Katarina Johnson-Thompson wins Götzis heptathlon with javelin best". The Guardian. Retrieved 23 August 2015.
  19. Sean Ingle. "Katarina Johnson-Thompson out of Commonwealth Games with foot injury". The Guardian. Retrieved 23 August 2015.
  20. "Katarina Johnson-Thompson sets British high jump record". BBC Sport.
  21. "Athletics – Johnson-Thompson breaks national high jump record". February 2014. Archived from the original on 2 March 2014.
  22. "Katarina Johnson-Thompson sets British long jump record". BBC Sport. Retrieved 1 March 2018.
  23. "Katarina Johnson-Thompson suffers Worlds heptathlon agony". BBC Sport. Retrieved 23 August 2015.
  24. Lewis, Aimee (29 May 2016). "Rio 2016: Katarina Johnson-Thompson qualifies for Olympic Games". BBC. Retrieved 23 September 2016.
  25. Trehan, Dev (23 August 2016). "Rio Olympics: Katarina Johnson-Thompson targets 2020 Tokyo Olympics medal". skysports.com. Retrieved 23 September 2016.
  26. Staff (23 September 2016). "Katarina Johnson-Thompson splits with coach Mike Holmes". Athletics Weekly. Retrieved 1 March 2018.
  27. Ingle, Sean (21 May 2017). "Katarina Johnson-Thompson revitalised by move to France". The Guardian. Retrieved 21 May 2017.
  28. "Katarina Johnson-Thompson GBR Heptathlon Day 1". 5 August 2017. Retrieved 5 August 2017 via YouTube.
  29. "How Johnson-Thompson won Commonwealth gold". BBC Sport. Retrieved 11 August 2018.
  30. "Johnson-Thompson revels in new-found confidence". BBC Sport. Retrieved 11 August 2018.
  31. 1 2 "Katarina Johnson-Thompson". Power of 10. Retrieved 6 March 2015.
  32. "Katarina Johnson-Thompson". Power of 10. Retrieved 7 March 2015.
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