PB for KJT but World gold is still a long shot
THERE was fresh hope and the same old weaknesses for Katarina Johnson-Thompson yesterday, as she hit new heights in Gotzis but saw just how tough it will be to win a World Championship medal in August. Her fourth-place finish here in Austria was impressive, with a personal best in the heptathlon of 6,691 points. That score would have put her on the podium in any other major championship in history and it is a measure of the absurd levels of competition here that she was still 124 points short of third. But there was also a sense that this was a missed opportunity, considering the 24-year-old led such a strong field overnight only to fall away yesterday, after a solid 6.53m in the long jump was followed by a poor 39.98m in the javelin. She recovered with a reasonable 2:11.12 in the 800m, but it is hard to envision her contending for the top spot at the World Championship in London so long as her throwing events hold her back. In context, her ranking in the shot put on Saturday was 19th and she placed 20th in the javelin. Olympic champion Nafissatou Thiam’s 7,013 points marked the first time since 2007 that 7,000 has been eclipsed. Carolin Schafer came second and Laura IkaunieceAdmidina took third. Johnson-Thompson has made sharp progress. ‘My glass is half full,’ she said. ‘I didn’t know what sort of shape I would be in so I’m over the moon with that. I’ve been told it was the highest ever points total for fourth place. ‘My goal was always to score 7,000 points and I feel Thiam is going to get me over the line because it will inspire me.’