SILVER LINING
Katarina Johnson-Thompson misses out on Olympics gold medal by finest of margins as Team GB star settles for silver
Scroll down for a breakdown of all three events on Friday as the heptathlon came to a thrilling conclusion
AFTER ALL the injuries, surgeries, setbacks and tears, Katarina Johnson-Thompson finally has a silver lining to brighten up her dark Olympic clouds.
It was not the heptathlon gold that she has always dreamt of – that honour will go instead to the supreme athlete that is Nafi Thiam.
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But adding an Olympic medal to her portfolio, regardless of the colour, ends an eight-year journey of frustration, anger and heartache at the highest level.
She said: "I am so happy. No complaints at all. I am grateful and emotional and overwhelmed. I have no regrets. I am so happy to come away with an Olympic medal.
"Ultimately it’s relief. As I crossed the line, I was running for gold tonight. I had such mixed emotions going into it.
"I was sort of grieving gold but also wanting to fight for gold and celebrate. I had so many different emotions crossing the line.
"To be on the podium is such an honour. Olympic cycles can be brutal. I know that more than anyone.
"In 2016, it was all mental, it was mental exhaustion. In 2021 it was physical. I feel after both Olympics I could have given up for different reasons.
"I had to revamp or sort change a lot of things to get into this Olympic cycle.
"I am so happy with the last three years. The team that I have around me. I wouldn’t have been on the start line without them for sure. I have got them to thank. It is all down to them."
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Heptathlon final stands
- Nafissatou Thiam (Belgium) - 6880 points
- Katarina Johnson-Thompson (Great Britain) - 6844 points
- Noor Vidts (Belgium) - 6707 points
- Annik Kaelin (Switzerland) - 6639 points
- Anna Hall (USA) - 6615 points
Winning silver at the Stade de France after two days of intense competition marks one of the great sporting comebacks of recent years.
Seldom has anyone in British sport displayed so much perseverance and battling spirit before finally getting their mitts on an Olympic medal.
Team GB's gold medal haul from the 2024 Olympics in Paris
At London 2012, KJT was too young to make any significant impact but she was a broken woman on the trip back from the Rio 2016 Games, questioning whether she had the willpower to continue.
Three years ago in Tokyo her injury jinx resurfaced as she pulled up in agony during the 200 metres with a calf issue and was offered the use of a wheelchair, which she flatly refused.
While she has won two world titles, she has twice rocked up for the Olympics out of physical sorts or off the back of a major operation.
It is her misfortune that she was up against a fully-fit Thiam, who is the second woman to win three Olympics in the same athletics discipline after Polish hammer thrower Anita Wlodarczyk.
And yes, she will not match the achievements of former Olympic champions Jessica Ennis-Hill and Denise Lewis, who wept tears in the BBC studio.
But considering all that she has been through, how often she has needed crutches or protective moon boots for support, this should be celebrated as one of Team GB’s biggest success stories.
The margin had been tight throughout and KJT, 31, put her head on the pillow on Thursday night with a lead of only 48 points after the completion of four events.
The long jump, normally such a strength of hers, was surprisingly not an area where she made much ground or headway.
In the end, she came away with a best leap of 6.40 metres but at her peak, she had jumped more than half a metre longer than that.
The javelin was always going to be the sticking point, particularly as in the past she was so haphazard with the object you feared she might one day impale herself with it.
The best she could muster was 45.49 metres, which was bettered by ten other competitors.
Specifically Thiam who raised her arm in salute and gave a huge smile as she led the way with an enormous 54.04 metres.
The points gap had swung to 121 points in the Belgian’s favour and boffins behind the scenes calculated that the Brit had to run more than EIGHT SECONDS faster over two laps of the track.
Going into the seventh event, her PB was six seconds quicker but it required a collapse of Devon Loch proportions to stop the gold heading back to Brussels.
Well, that almost did happen as Thiam was accidentally tripped by Hungarian Xenia Krizsan after 250 metres and she came close to losing her balance completely.
KJT ran a personal best of 2:04.90, she gave as much as she could, and everyone was looking at the clock.
Would it be enough? Would it be a nine-second gap?
Gutsy Thiam, 29, was puffing and puffing and busting every sinew but also ran her best-ever 800 metres time in 2:10.62.
As she collapsed on the floor in pain, exhausted from her heroic endeavours, the Belgian fans began to celebrate.
Only 36 points separated them in the end and my goodness it was close, so close.
Some may say that KJT was guilty of losing gold but in truth, to take away the silver, after all she has been through, it would have been worth all the heartache and self doubt.
She added: "My game plan was to try to run 2:02 but the way the heptathlon, you never know want to expect or how the races will pan out.,
"It was pretty close this time. Nafi is the greatest of all time. It is undisputed now.
"It’s an honour to have an actual rivalry against one of the greatest of all time."
Here is how the final day of heptathlon events unfolded...
LONG JUMP
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Johnson-Thompson placed fifth in the long jump with a distance of 6.40 metres.
Thiam jumped one centimetre further to secure third place.
JAVELIN
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Historically Johnson-Thompson's weakest event, she threw a season's best of 45.49 metres for 11th place.
But Thiam showed her strength in this one as she threw 54.04 metres to take the event victory and extend her overall lead to 121 points.
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800 METRES
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Johnson-Thompson needed to beat Thiam by around eight seconds in the 800 metres to overhaul her and claim gold in the final event.
And while she destroyed the Belgian in the two-lap race, she could only open up a six-second gap as she had to settle for silver after second place in the 800m.