Sport Circuit

By Ewan Jackson

It is often the case that the most miniscule of margins decide elite-level sports, and the 2024 Olympic heptathlon was to be no different. After six events, Britain’s Katarina Johnson-Thompson found herself needing to run the 800 metres eight seconds faster than her Belgian rival Nassifatou Thiam in order to overcome the points deficit which had been left after the javelin throw. An uphill task to say the least. The Brit’s gutsy and courageous effort in the final event saw her finish agonisingly short of the gold, just 36 points behind Thiam, in a thrilling culmination to the heptathlon. A magnificent performance from Johnson-Thompson to secure the silver, and her first Olympic medal that will undoubtedly mean so much after the past few years. 

Johnson-Thompson’s glittering career has seen her win gold at World Championships in Doha and Budapest as well as finishing on top of the podium at Commonwealth Games in Queensland and Birmingham. Up until now it was an Olympic success which had continued to allude her, something she will have been desperate to put right heading into Paris. A ruptured achilles and being forced to withdraw through injury from the Tokyo games is a setback that most would have struggled to come through. However, a resilience and never-say-die attitude have been two traits that have defined KJT since she burst onto the heptathlon scene in London 2012. Two traits that continued to shine through in Tokyo, demonstrating a refusal by the Brit to be denied this time round. 

Although losing out to the brilliant Thiam, a silver medal represents a mammoth achievement to the athlete from Liverpool. A superb run in the hurdles, followed by an incredible clearance of 1.92m in the high jump, marked an incredible start to proceedings for Johnson-Thompson. A personal best in the shot put had supporters of the Brit dreaming of gold with KJT sitting top of the leaderboard after three events and a 200 metres to follow. This is where the lead began to shorten as Thiam began to make her move. A monster throw from the Belgian in the javelin event left the British heptathlete with a mountain to climb even after brilliant performances throughout the first six events of the final. Another personal best in the 800 metres finished off an incredible challenge from Johnson-Thompson to the defending champion Thiam, who wins her third successive Olympic gold at the games. A generational talent who has proved her longevity and greatness in her sport once more. 

Fans of KJT will be hoping this isn’t the last time they see her competing. With a potential appearance at the Los Angeles games in four years’ time on the cards and the possibility of going one step further and wearing the gold medal around her neck still very much on, the athlete’s Olympic career may still not be over. Whatever the future may hold and whatever her decision may be, her performance at these games will live long in the memory and she has irrefutably cemented herself as one of Britain’s great Olympians.