European cancellation left heptathlon star struggling

World heptathlon champion Katerina Johnson-Thompson says she struggled when left without the European Championships in Paris to train for.

While the postponement of the Olympic and Paralympic Games in Tokyo has been hard for many athletes, Johnson-Thompson has said it was the cancellation of the European Championships in Paris she found really tough to take.

It was in March the postponement of the Tokyo Games was announced, with the new 2021 event dates published less than a week later.

The following month the cancellation of the Europeans was confirmed.

Johnson-Thompson, 25, has admitted she struggled when the event bit the dust.

She explained: “With the Olympics being cancelled (for 2020), I took that quite well because I had weeks to expect that, but the thing I struggled with the most was the Europeans getting cancelled in Paris.

“Not even postponed, but outright cancelled. That was tough for me because then I didn’t have any sort of focus to train for.”

Johnson-Thompson, who claimed heptathlon silver at the 2018 European Championships in Berlin, had returned back to the UK from her training base in France to spend the lockdown period at home in Liverpool.

“It was difficult at the beginning, for sure,” she said.

“It was a lot easier than being in France because I’ve got my old running stomping ground on Camp Hill in Liverpool, which is like a hill session, a ‘lactic death’ workout, which I have been able to do week in, week out.

“Then I’ve got a mini gym in basement as well.

“I’ve been able to keep up fitness quite well but the thing that I am lacking is the technical work that I am missing from my coach.”

Otherwise, Johnson-Thompson chills out with her dachshunds Chorizo and Bronx, and enjoys painting and doing jigsaws.

Once restrictions are lifted, it will be back to France to align the pieces for a shot at Olympic gold.

Meanwhile, Johnson-Thompson is well equipped to become a British great, according to Daley Thompson.

The two-time Olympic decathlon champion believes Johnson-Thompson can join the sporting heavyweights.

“The trouble with trying to be an all-time great is you have to keep the success going. It’s not a one-off thing,” said Thompson, who won one world crown and two European decathlon titles.

“She will need to continue on the path she is going and win a few more things.

“We’ve had some great heptathletes -–that is a very high bar – but she stands here now with the opportunity to do it.

“She should be able to join Mary Peters, Denise Lewis and Jessica Ennis-Hill.

“It’s been a difficult one for her, she has got so much potential and she used to show a lot of flashes of all the stuff she can do.

“But going to France (to train) has helped her and sometimes it just takes a while to reach your full potential because your physical strength is much better than your mental strength.”

World heptathlon champion Katerina Johnson-Thompson.