Johnson-thompson hires new coach and moves to Florida
Hkyprianou is charged with reviving career after Valcin split champion out to retain title following Olympics agony
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Katarina Johnson-thompson is relocating to Florida under a new coach as she attempts to move on from her Tokyo Olympics disaster and defend her world heptathlon title next summer.
After confounding medical opinion to fight back so quickly from a ruptured Achilles last December, Johnson-thompson was in contention for a medal at the Tokyo Olympics when a calf injury to her other leg caused her to collapse suddenly during the 200 metres.
She returned to her base in Montpellier, France, only to find out that Bertrand Valcin, the coach who had guided her to the world title in 2019, would be taking up a new role with the French Athletics Federation ahead of the Paris 2024 Olympics and would no longer be able to commit to coaching her on a fulltime basis. Having moved to Montpellier from her home town of Liverpool after the 2016 Olympics, Johnson-thompson was again forced to shift her life and find a new base. Now she has opted to join a new group under multi-events and jumps specialist Petros Kyprianou in Florida.
Raised in Cyprus before moving to the United States almost two decades ago, Kyprianou has held a number of collegiate coaching roles, most recently as head of track and field at the University of Georgia, where he was crowned national collegiate coach of the year three times. He also guided Estonian decathlete Maicel Uibo to world silver in 2019, as well as American pair Garrett Scantling and Kendall Williams, who finished fourth and fifth respectively in multi-events at the Tokyo Olympics. Of the prospect of leaving the life she had built in the south of France and moving across the Atlantic, Johnsonthompson said: “That seems to be my life, every Olympic cycle, I start again. Last time [moving to Monpellier] was harder. This time it’s definitely more positive. “He seems like the right fit for me at this stage of my career. I knew what I was looking for, whereas last time I didn’t have a clue because I’d only ever had one coach [childhood mentor Mike Holmes] in my life. With Mike, we had a really strong relationship and did a lot of great work, but those years were very hard in terms of me dealing with the pressure.
“After the Rio Olympics, I just sort of threw my whole life away and started again. I think Bertrand was the right person for me at the time, in terms of how calming he was. I needed someone who would mother me a little bit and protect me. Now, this time around, I’m a full person and I pretty much know what I’m like. I’m excited and I think it will be a good fit.”
Johnson-thompson is yet to return to full training after undergoing surgery on the long-standing calf problem that flared so dramatically during the Tokyo Games.
She said the freak timing of the flare-up meant there “wasn’t anything I can learn from Tokyo”, which extended her run of high-profile disappointments after she also missed the podium at the 2016 Olympics, and 2015 and 2017 World Championships.
“I’m at peace with what happened,” said Johnson-thompson, speaking at a Muller event. “The thing that I’ve taken out of this year is that I overcame an injury [to her Achilles] and made the start line. It was a really bad thing that happened, but I’m over it.”