Disappointed KTJ vows to bounce back

KATARINA Johnson-Thompson missed out on a heptathlon medal at the World Athletics Championships, but vowed to bounce back.

The 24-year-old was tipped to make the podium in London but could not recover from an awful high jump and finished fifth.

She was 240 points adrift of third-placed Anouk Vetter going into the 800 metres and needed an unlikely result which never happened.

Johnson-Thompson fell 18 centimetres short of her high jump personal best on Saturday and, despite coming second in the long jump, never looked likely to mount a stunning comeback.

She said: “I just don’t really understand (her high jump failure). It’s not frustration, I’ve tried to move on, but it’s in the past so I just try to forget it.

“It’s getting there, I’ve said from the start of the year I’ve had a lot of change and it’s going to take a bit of getting used to but I’m happy with where I am physically and mentally and I’m not injured. I know it will happen one day, I just don’t know when.

“I’m definitely going to put in all my scores and then maybe put in a 1.90 high jump and see where they would have placed me.

“The biggest thing I’ll take away is my change in attitude, to not give up and bounce back. I feel like in the past I’ve tried to bounce back but I’ve been kind of defeatist. But I felt I grasped the opportunity even though I lost over 200 points in the high jump.

“I feel like I’m there, I feel like I’m in a much better place.”

Johnson-Thompson clocked two minutes 08.10 seconds in the 800m to come second to record a total of 6558 points, as Olympic champion Nafi Thiam won with 6784 points.

Cardiff-based Holly Bradshaw missed out on a medal in the pole vault, finishing sixth.