NO DOUBT ABOUT IT, KJT’S A CLASS ABOVE
KATARINA JOHNSON-THOMPSON arrived in Austria with doubts in her mind and left last night having maybe implanted a few in someone else’s. An impostor at the highest level? Immense more like. Whereas it was once a questionable investment to wager on this 26-year-old, never more so has she seemed like such a credible threat on the biggest stages. Enough to dethrone the absent Nafi Thiam when they collide in the more meaningful business of world and Olympic competition? That is still a stretch. But what is beyond dispute following the performance of her lifetime in Gotzis, and her obliteration of a formidable field, is that only Thiam stands in front of her. When Thiam looks over her shoulder, she will see an athlete who is growing rapidly in accolades, stature and confidence. Johnson-Thompson spoke candidly about impostor syndrome’ on Friday and her insecurities about her place among the elite. But by all other metrics, and specifically her 6,813 points here, you can make a good argument that she is Britain’s best-placed athlete heading to the worlds in Doha this autumn. Her winning margin in Gotzis was an astonishing 337 points — a landslide in heptathlon terms and more impressive still when the strength of the field is considered. Six of last season’s global top 10 were present and none got within the same postcode as Johnson-Thompson. ‘I’ve been wanting to get 6,800 points for so long now,’ she said, after crushing her previous personal best of 6,759. ‘I’m so happy I can say I’m over 6,800 points. It’s been a big dream of mine so hopefully it will just go up from here. ‘My next goal? Medals. For sure medals. And I can still improve a few events. It’s a personal best but I can still see room to improve.’ Perhaps the most striking aspect of the performance came from the recoveries. On Saturday, she finally pulled out a competitive shot put with her third throw from three after two duds. On Sunday, she bounced back from a foul on her first long jump to record her joint-best ever in a heptathlon. Previously she has wilted in those pressure situations, like three long jump fouls at the 2015 worlds and her fall from second to sixth at the Rio Olympics. But now, with three gold medals in the previous 15 months, there is a sturdier edge. In the words of her coach Bertrand Valcin, who has rebuilt Johnson-Thompson in France over the past two years: ‘The most impressive thing about her now is she always finds a way out.’ In terms of getting the win, Johnson-Thompson was virtually there after day one. Her haul of 4,034 had her 177 points ahead of second. She followed a 6.68m long jump with a personal best of 42.92m in the javelin. That left the 800m and a target of 2mins 12sec to set a personal best. She crossed the line in 2mins 8.28sec and fell to the ground. When she regains her footing, she can set about catching Thiam.