Record-breaker Kat gives Jess a fright in heptathlon
KATARINA Johnson Thompson was leading the heptathlon after two events as she tries to wrestle the Olympic title from fellow Briton Jessica Ennis-Hill.
The 23-year-old broke the British high jump record with a spectacular leap of 1.98m to give her 2,264 points overall, putting her in pole position with five events to go.
Belgium’s Nafissatou Thiam was in the silver-medal position and Ennis-Hill was neatly poised in third on 2,242 points, just seven points down on where she was at the same stage on her way to winning gold at London 2012.
She is attempting to become only the third woman in history to defend an Olympic heptathlon after having a baby in the intervening four-year period.
At London 2012, Johnson-Thompson finished 15th behind Ennis-Hill and, as she did the lap of honour at the end of two days of toil, resolved that eventually it would be her with a gold medal hanging around her neck. A series of injuries have impeded her over the past two years but on the basis of her performances in the 100m hurdles and high jump it seems she might finally realise that dream.
The atmosphere was markedly different from four years ago when a then 19-year-old Johnson-Thompson memorably mouthed ‘wow’ into TV cameras in reaction to the roar from the 80,000 crowd as her name was announced on the start line for the 100m hurdles.
The Joao Havelange Olympic Stadium, which will house nine days of athletics, has a capacity of 47,000 but barely 5,000 were there for the first athletics action of the Games.
Lord Coe was in attendance in his capacity as president of the IAAF, athletics’ world governing body, and rightly pointed out that expecting the same crowd as London 2012 was unrealistic.
But the sparse numbers of bums on seats seemed to contradict Rio 2016 organisers’ claims that more than 50 per cent of tickets had been sold for the morning session. First blood was drawn by Ennis-Hill, who opened her title defence by running the 100m hurdles in 12.84sec, her third quickest time since London 2012 and faster than she ran on her way to winning World Championships gold in Beijing last year.
Johnson-Thompson, who is a brilliant sprinter but does not have quite the same explosive power as Ennis-Hill, managed 13.48sec to come second in her heat. She ran a 13.37sec personal best earlier this year and would have hoped to better that time but it was a solid start.
Johnson-Thompson entered the high jump, her strongest discipline at 1.80m, skipping 1.83 before sailing over 1.86 on her first attempt.
It was an exhibition display of jumping as she managed first-time clearances over every height until 1.98, which she jumped on her second attempt, equalling the best ever jump in a heptathlon. It was superior to every specialist high jumper Britain has ever produced and demonstrated what a phenomenal athlete she is.
Ennis-Hill was a 1.95 jumper at her best but has not approached that height for several years owing to a number of factors including injuries to her feet.
But she went clear over 1.83m and looked delighted after clearing 1.86m with her second attempt. She sprung off the crash mat with a giant smile painted on her face after clearing 1.89m with her second effort, higher than she managed at London 2012.
It was also a ‘post-pregnancy personal best,’ which is the currency her long-time coach Toni Minichiello has encouraged her to deal in as she struggles to match the phenomenal performances she managed in her prime.
Minichiello had singled out the fast-improving Latvian Laura Ikauniece-Admidina as a potential surprise medallist and it seemed he might be on to something after she lowered her personal best by almost half a second in the 100m hurdles.
But she crashed out of the high jump at 1.77m, possibly ending any hope she had of a podium finish.
Canadian Brianne Theisen-Eaton, who owns the world leading heptathlon points score and has been identified as the biggest threat to the British medal charge, had a solid if unspectacular start, scoring 2,151 points to put her fifth overall.