Teammate Andrew Pozzi is helping to convince the two-time world heptathlon champion that retirement isn’t a while away.
“I’ll never say never,” says Katharina Johnson-Thompson with a smile. The two-time world heptathlon champion answers the question of whether or not she would ever be tempted to run the London Marathon.
“Competitiveness and all this energy has to go somewhere in the future. There may be a moment when I say. “Oh, go on, let me try that, and I’ll see if it’s harder than the heptathlon.”
That point likely won’t come for some time. He has no plans to retire from high-level combined event competition anytime soon.
Johnson-Thompson is 33 and has amassed a body of work that includes two world titles, last year’s world bronze, two consecutive Commonwealth titles and one Olympic silver, not to mention world and European gold medals. Also coming back from major surgery and recurring injury problems, there aren’t many points left to prove.
“If I stop today, I’m really happy with what I’ve already done,” he admits. But that doesn’t mean it will.
The Liverpudlian is looking forward to a summer that will give her the chance to become the first woman to win three Commonwealth heptathlon gold medals in a row (Denise Lewis won two, as did Mary Peters in the pentathlon) and win a first European medal outdoors.
Those outings in front of the home crowd don’t seem like final flourishes. Johnson-Thompson’s partner is Andrew Posey, the sprint hurdler who was a world indoor champion and Commonwealth medalist himself. He retired last year and, seeing him walk away from the sport, was there any part of him that was tempted to do the same?
“He (Posey) actually convinced me to go on longer,” he says. “He says everyone should be an athlete as long as they can. The grass is not as green as it may seem on the other side. He still works out, he still runs the hills with me on Saturdays. As an athlete he still has the desire to be competitive, but there’s just no way out for him, so I think he’s probably convinced me and will try to keep me going as long as I can otherwise.”
He adds: “I’m really happy with what I’ve done so far, so it gives me a lot of freedom to just enjoy the privilege of what I’ve been able to do. I’ve been able to play a sport that I’ve loved my whole life, so I’m very happy in that regard.”
Having made the difficult decision not to go indoors this winter, in large part due to the uncertainties and demands of the world athletics ranking system, Johnson-Thompson has rarely been back in action.
After a tumultuous 2020 with an Achilles tear that required surgery and subsequent injury problems, the comeback that won him a second world title in 2023, the Olympic medal he coveted a year later and another world medal in 2025 was an extraordinary turnaround that left him much more relaxed.
Years of experience have also brought them greater skill in monitoring and managing workloads, emphasizing recovery and listening. “Over the years, I’ve learned how to listen to my body and not skip through a rep or stop the minute I feel something and not waste so much time,” she says.
The partnership with coach Aston Moore has also been fruitful.
“He put me in a really bad spot,” Johnson-Thompson says. “In 2022, he brought me to probably my most unmotivated and unmotivated place, and he definitely helped me turn that around and have a better story of how my career has gone.
“His whole demeanor and approach works really well with me. It’s always quiet. He always makes sure to laugh a little. He is a very thoughtful person. When he says something, you know he’s taken the time to think about it, so his words mean a lot to us athletes.
“He’s just been a constant in my life and I feel like I’m always at my best as an athlete when I want to do well for coach, and I think all of his athletes want to do well for him. He’s a really good coach.”
There are few situations that Johnson-Thompson hasn’t encountered or dealt with in his career. “There are a lot of learning curves,” and he has found himself giving advice to young athletes when they seek his advice. Does that mean coaching could be in his future as well?
“I don’t think I would be a good coach,” he says. “I’ve always been an athlete who trusts my coach to run my workouts and I don’t ask any questions, so I don’t think that’s a good coach.”
He will be on hand, however, to give plenty of encouragement to runners in this year’s London Marathon. He has never experienced this British celebration of distance running before, but will get his first taste of it on Sunday (April 26) when he will be in the Mile 23 cheering zone as part of his work with sponsor Ruddox.
And while she’s never experienced the feeling of running 26.2 miles, Johnson-Thompson vividly remembers experiencing the finish line of a marathon when she was living and training in France. There seem to be parallels between that and the event he chose.
“I happened to see a couple of marathons when I was in Montpellier and I get really excited because when people cross the line and look like they’ve achieved something, I love to see that moment,” he says. “That’s why I love the heptathlon. You’ve been competing for two days and the moment you cross the line in the 800m, I don’t feel like I can repeat that in any other track and field event. But when I see marathon runners cross the line, I see the same euphoric joy. I guess that’s why I feel it.”
There is one common theme for both. As thousands of runners prepare to put their training into practice on the streets of London, Johnson-Thompson knows exactly where the biggest source of confidence comes from.
“Knowing you’ve done the work,” he says. “That’s the only thing I can really count on going into the day, knowing that I’ve trained and done my best. There is nothing magical that can convince you otherwise. You just have to do the work.”
Katarina Johnson-Thompson is an ambassador for Radox, the official bath and shower gel partner of the TCS London Marathon, and will be cheering on fans in the Radox Cheer Zone on Marathon Day on Sunday 26 April.
