As she looks to greater rewards in the coming months, the two-time world champion discusses what it takes to succeed at the top level and how he learned to “sit in the uncertainty of sport” at the highest level.
There is discomfort for Katharina Johnson-Thompson. An artistry to be found in suffering. “I don’t know how to describe it without going on,” says the two-time world heptathlon champion as she discusses the complexities of the event, which has taken a lot out of her but also provided priceless rewards.
It’s just too bad the interview time is short, because when he walks through this specialized topic, hearing the four-time Olympian speak makes for fascinating listening. There is a harsh reality to the day job: the hard work, the brutality, the endurance, the physical and mental questions that must be answered, the huge swings of emotion that must be dealt with. Even being good at mental arithmetic helps.
On the one hand, it seems borderline insane to think that participating in high-level combined events is a good idea. And yet, there’s a warmth in Johnson-Thompson’s words that makes it abundantly clear how much, deep down, she absolutely loves.
“The best part is going through it, adding up the score and putting together a piece of work,” says the 33-year-old. “It’s almost a bit of art, seeing it come together.”
So it’s fitting that Johnson-Thompson’s exploits on the world stage have made him the subject of a mural in his hometown of Liverpool in recent years. He may suffer for his art, but has the track become his creative place where he expresses himself the most? “It should be,” he nods.
And yet, the former European champion sees herself only as a muse. He insists it is his coach Aston Moore whose vision he is carrying out.
“I always think of coaches as artists because they take this learning and (in the process) maybe dilute one event or make another event bolder because it’s like a painting,” he adds.
“Coaches are artists. They put the training together and we’re just trying to get it out there and justify it.”
From training to the competition itself is a long-term project. In a world that is increasingly rushed, excelling in combined events is a process that should not be rushed. The task before the international heptathlete is significant.
Two days of competition, the first consisting of the 100m hurdles and high jump in the morning, followed by the shot put and 200m in the evening. Day two begins with the long jump, followed by the javelin and the teeth-grinding final of the 800m. So how does it feel to face it all?
“It’s starting fresh,” Johnson-Thompson says. “It’s the first fresh day of the year you’ve had. You’ve been training all year and haven’t really been limited to single events (until now).
“But you’re nervous on competition day and you’re always on the first bus (to the stadium). You wake up at 5am and try to eat but can’t. And when you leave the room, you look at your bed and you know it will be hours and hours before you get back to it. Do you always feel
“But then when you start, it’s incredible. It’s that nervous energy before the hurdles and then you go straight into the high jump. When you finish that morning… it’s just high and low. You get exhausted very quickly. The wait between the high jump and the shot is usually six or seven hours, and you can talk yourself into that.”
Definitely more than enough to occupy a competitor’s mind as they navigate their way from task to task.
“It’s the ability to move on from disappointment, or even, ‘I’m doing good,’ but knowing that there are competitors on all sides,” Johnson-Thompson says. “And you don’t really know how to mentally add up how many points you need to get ahead of this girl or what condition she’s in.
“You learn not to look at it too much before the spear, but you can’t look at it overnight. You come back after 200 meters and you have to take an ice bath, you have to recover, you have to see physical therapy. You should definitely take a shower, try to get some sleep and get up the next day and do it again.
Until then, however, the tedium outweighs the fact that this is when things really start to get interesting.
“That’s when you really start to get competitive and you can see which people are going to win medals and it ends up being one of the toughest events, the 800m.
“The worst thing about the medal race is that you usually have to watch two 800m races before your race starts. Then you see the girls on the track and they’re tired and happy and you’re so jealous of them because they’re done.
“It (doesn’t) happen as much in the championships, but at an event like Götzis (the famous Hypomeeting), they will literally pull the girls off the track so you can get on the starting line.”
And then the gun goes.
“The distance of 120 meters is always the best for 800 m. when you can see the finish line, but you’re still in it, you’re still doing it,” Johnson-Thompson says. “The worst part is right before the hurdles (on the first day) and also at the bell for the 800m.”
It’s no wonder, then, that there’s such a clear camaraderie between the competitors, who always end up on the lap of honor together.
“I think it’s because we all have our strengths and weaknesses, we’re all trying to get our heptathlon together and we understand how hard it is,” Johnson-Thompson said. “That’s why we’re all so happy at the end of it. We just want to talk to someone about it because we’re all so glad we’re done. It’s really fun. I love it very much.”
It’s not bad because the diary is filling up. As we speak, the finer points of Johnson-Thompson’s competition schedule are still being confirmed, though the summer is certainly not a blank canvas.
He is eyeing a third consecutive Commonwealth title in Glasgow. a feat accomplished by Daley Thompson in the decathlon, but something that represents uncharted territory in the women’s heptathlon. And then it’s back to Birmingham for the European Championships and a city where he achieved the most recent of those Commonwealth successes four years ago, as well as the world indoor pentathlon title in 2018.
Neither will be an easy task, but having overcome past serious injuries, surgeries and heartache to win world gold in Budapest in 2023, Olympic silver in 2024 and world bronze in Tokyo last year, the pressure has been lifted. The outlook is completely positive. Plus, Alexander Stadium is familiar ground and an arena he’s played in since he first stepped foot in the Junior League when I was 10 or 11, and the home crowd will be there to help.
“I remember it the old way (before it was renovated),” he said of Perry Barry Stadium. “I vividly remember the England Schools Championships and the Junior Sports League, which has always been a big finals competition, so it holds a lot of memories, especially from the World Indoor Games in Birmingham 2018 and then the Commonwealth Games in 2022. Can’t wait to get it full again! It’s a special city for sports.”
Soon it will be time again for early alarms, nerves to kick in, and all the combined traffic to kick in once again. The nature of elite sport is that there are bound to be some bumps along the way to a championship, but Johnson-Thompson has been helped tremendously by learning how to stay more even-tempered.
“I’ve learned to sit in limbo with injury,” he says. “Now I can definitely sit in it a lot easier, whereas before it was the end of the world and a lot of panic. I feel like these days I can just sit in that uncertainty and that’s a great skill to have.
“It’s the injuries, the results that you’re not really happy with in the majors, the lack of control that I’ve struggled with. I still struggle with it, but I used to really struggle with it. I just realized that on championship day I can step up and I’m always ready.
“I have to trust my coach’s plan. I have to trust myself and be competitive. I have to trust that I have experience and that has been through years and years and years of practice. It’s been a long road but I can now sit in that uncertainty and be confident that if I’m fit I’ll be able to perform.”
