The two-time world champion from Team GB impresses with personal bests, setting the stage for an exciting heptathlon battle.

Katarina Johnson-Thompson has put herself firmly in contention for Olympic gold at the Paris 2024 Games after a brilliant opening day in the heptathlon. The British athlete delivered standout performances, including a personal best in the shot put and a remarkable high jump, to finish day one at the top of the standings.

With a score of 4055 points after four events, Johnson-Thompson is currently leading the competition, 48 points ahead of her long-time rival and defending Olympic champion Nafi Thiam. The 31-year-old’s performance on day one was especially impressive given the challenges she’s faced in the lead-up to the Games, including multiple injury setbacks.

Johnson-Thompson’s road to Paris has been fraught with struggles, including a calf injury that forced her out of the Tokyo 2020 competition. However, her resilience shone through last year as she regained her world title in Budapest, proving she was back to her best. Yet, despite this, she has been managing an Achilles issue throughout 2024, and has not completed a full heptathlon this year until now.

The day began with Johnson-Thompson running a season’s best 13.40 seconds in the 100m hurdles, improving on her time from winning the world title in 2023. In the high jump, she cleared 1.92m, her best mark in five years, and one she had not reached since her World Championship win in Doha in 2019.

The evening session then saw Johnson-Thompson deliver an unexpected breakthrough in the shot put, traditionally one of her weaker events. While Thiam had thrown a personal best of 15.54m, Johnson-Thompson had only managed 13.38m in the first two rounds. But with her third attempt, she exceeded her previous best with a throw of 14.44m, giving her a huge boost in the standings.

Although Thiam held a 50-point advantage going into the final event of the day, the 200m, Johnson-Thompson’s impressive 23.44 seconds in the race was a second faster than her opponent, effectively flipping the lead. With the long jump, javelin, and 800m still to come, the competition between the two heptathletes is set to be one of the most thrilling in recent memory.