MUIR THE MERRIER
Teary Kat says she nearly quit after Rio heartbreak
GOLDEN girl Katarina JohnsonThompson has revealed how she almost quit athletics.
Britain’s new heptathlon queen was awake all Thursday night after finally putting her demons to bed to be crowned world champion.
And yesterday she said: “From now on it’s just going to be smiles. Hopefully, I’ve cried enough to last me a career.”
It has been a roller-coaster journey to the top. In Rio three years ago, after another global championship tilt had turned sour, she turned to Jess Ennis-Hill and told her she did not know whether she wanted to continue in the sport.
“It was probably in the moment, at the time,” said Johnson-Thompson, 26.
“But I was fed up of this feeling that my performances weren’t up to scratch to compete against other heptathletes.
“I didn’t want to give up on something I from ALEX SPINK in Doha
truly believed in but...” She paused to wipe away a tear, took a deep breath and added: “I’m so happy now that I wasn’t crazy.”
In the Qatari capital seven years of pressure was finally released as she stood on the podium to receive her gold medal.
“Everyone’s got their journey,” she said. “It’s not been very straightforward for me. It’s not been easy for me.
“I had to move coach, I had to move country, learn a new language and settle in. I tore everything up and started again.
“The last two world championships have been heartbreaking for me, my mum and my team. Mid-heptathlon, I’ve gone back to my hotel and cried and cried for hours when things have gone badly.
“Those were the low points of my career – after the high jump in London in 2017 and the long jump in 2015 in Beijing. The Rio Olympics as well. I’ve had a lot of bad years. I’m just so happy that I came out in front for a change.”
Johnson-Thompson, who now lives and trains in France, did not just come out on top this time.
Her 6,981 points improved the British record by 26 points, leapfrogging her from third to first in the UK rankings ahead of Olympic champions Denise Lewis and Ennis-Hill.
Her 304-point winning margin was the biggest in a world heptathlon since 1987 and ended the three-year winning streak of Nafi Thiam.
Killing Eve star Jodie Comer took to Instagram to congratulate her close pal and former school mate, saying: “We couldn’t be prouder of you. You’re the best…it’s actually official x”
Johnson-Thompson’s focus now switches to the Tokyo Olympics where she will go from being the hunter to the hunted.
from ALEX SPINK LAURA MUIR has her sights on a golden hat-trick for Britain’s women this evening.
Inspired by Dina Asher-Smith and Katarina JohnsonThompson becoming world champions, Muir goes for gold in the 1500m final.
“It would be great to get three from three,” said Muir (inset). “From the start of this year, this has been the championships where I thought I could medal.” Asher-Smith will eye another gold medal this evening when she anchors the sprint relay team in their final. The British quartet, minus the resting Asher-Smith, clocked a season’s best 42.25 seconds to qualify second behind Jamaica.
In the men’s event, Great Britain qualified fastest in 37.56secs – the best time in the world this year.
American Dalilah Muhammad smashed her 400m hurdles world record as she won gold in 52.16.