Monday, 9 March 2015

Katarina Johnson-Thompson wins pentathlon gold at European Indoor Championships

Katarina Johnson-Thompson wins pentathlon gold at European Indoor Championships but breaks down in tears after missing out on world record

Katarina Johnson-Thompson recorded 60m hurdles PB of 8.18 seconds

22-year-old could break the pentathlon British record of Jessica Ennis-Hill

Brit is seeking her first multi-event title at a major championships

By MARTHA KELNER FOR THE DAILY MAIL

PUBLISHED: 10:08, 6 March 2015 | UPDATED: 01:15, 7 March 2015

It is a mark of Katarina Johnson-Thompson's towering potential that, minutes after winning the first major gold medal of her career, she stood in the corridors of Prague's O2 Arena draped in the Union flag, crying.

Not tears of happiness at breaking a British record previously held by Olympic champion Jessica Ennis-Hill, or becoming only the second woman to break 5,000 points in the pentathlon.

These were tears of dejection mixed with anger. She was less than a second — or 13 points, according to pentathlon scoring — short of the world record held by Ukraine's Nataliya Dobrynska. It was within her reach and she knew it.

Katarina Johnson-Thompson won European Indoor pentathlon gold in Prague on Friday

The 22-year-old was in tears draped in a Union Jack flag after just missing out on the world record

Johnson-Thompson broke Jessica Ennis-Hill's British record but fell just short of the world record

The youngster collapsed to the floor in celebration after finishing the 800 metres

Jessica Ennis-Hill ✔ @J_Ennis
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@JohnsonThompson Well done Kat!! Amazing performance! Sad to see my record go but couldn't have gone to a more deserving athlete!

I've been tearing my brains out these last couple of weeks thinking I could get it. So to come so close, I'm disappointed,' she said before dissolving into tears.

Heading into the 800m, the final event of the day, gold was all but assured for Johnson-Thompson but she needed to run 2min 11.86sec to pass the mark set by Dobrynska in 2012. Her personal best outdoors is four seconds faster.

At the start she beamed, crossed her fingers and the BBC switched from coverage of the Davis Cup in Glasgow to show her event live. The nation was with her but after the gun went she was on her own.

Johnson-Thompson looks on after competing in the Women's Pentathlon 60 metre Hurdles

Johnson-Thompson celebrates gold in the Pentathlon at the 2015 European Athletics Indoor Championships

Johnson-Thompson holds up the Great Britain flag as she celebrates winning gold in Prague

Far superior to the rest, she was forced to go it alone. At halfway, she was on course to do it but after stopping the clock on 2:12.78 she raised her hands to her head. 'I was gutted, instant regret,' she said. 'I think I could have pushed myself a bit more. I wasn't as tired as I normally am after the 800m. If someone had said to me you've got 5,000 points and a gold medal at the beginning of the day, I would have taken it, but because everything was going so well and I was so close, that's what made me so sad.'

As she gripped a bouquet atop the podium for the first time at a major championships, a montage of her day's work played on the big screen. A smile flickered across her tear-stained face.

First, a personal best of 8.18sec in the 60m hurdles, then a clearance of 1.95m in the high jump at the first attempt. She launched the shot putt 12.32m, just 17cm short of her personal best, a perfectly respectable throw in her weakest event. She briefly trailed Belgium's Nafissatou Thiam by 35 points but the long jump is where she excels. Her leap of 6.89m, 4cm shy of her national record set last month, was incredible for a multi-eventer. It would have been good enough for gold in the individual competition at six of the last seven European Indoor Championships. 'Seeing everything that I've achieved today made me a bit happier,' she said. 'It's been a long day. I got up at 6 o'clock and didn't get much rest.'

Johnson-Thompson sits under a Union Jack flag after winning gold in the Women's Pentathlon

Johnson-Thompson shows off her pentathlon gold at the European Athletic Indoor Championships

Johnson-Thompson Nafissatou Thiam (L) and Eliska Klucinova pose for photographers after medal ceremony

Morgan Lake, the 17-year-old who packed her schoolbooks alongside her spikes, excelled in only her second senior championships, scoring 4,527 points to come ninth overall. 'I was inspired by Kat,' she said.

Johnson-Thompson was congratulated by Ennis-Hill, who was watching at home as the 22-year-old broke her British record of 4,965 set in 2012. The two will meet in what promises to be a gripping battle in Gotzis, Austria, at the end of May when Ennis-Hill makes her comeback after the birth of her first baby, Reggie. But Johnson-Thompson insisted she was still the young pretender.

Johnson-Thompson broke her personal best time at the 60m hurdles in the pentathlon on Friday

Johnson-Thompson (left) won her heat in 8.18 seconds to lead the event at present with 1088 points

The 22-year-old (centre left) is congratulated by her competitors after the race

'I wouldn't call myself an equal,' she said, 'This is pentathlon, heptathlon's seven events. I need to work on A, B and C and hopefully I won't flop in the 800m in Gotzis.'

There were no glum faces for Lucy Hatton and Serita Solomon, who both set three personal bests in one day to win silver and bronze respectively in the 60m hurdles.

Team captain Lawrence Clarke had been blessed 1,000 times by the Dalai Lama and received a good-luck letter from David Cameron.

But no amount of good wishes from friends in high places was enough to withstand the French trio of Pascal Martinot-Lagarde, Dimitri Bascou and Wilhem Belocian, who did a clean sweep of the medals in the 60m hurdles, leaving Clarke trailing in fifth.

Johnson-Thompson continued her dazzling pentathlon form as she cleared 1.95m in the high jump

Fellow British pentathlete Morgan Lake looks on despondently after crashing out at 1.95m

Johnson-Thompson relinquished her lead in the pentathlon despite a season's best of 12.32m

France's Pascal Martinot-Lagarde pipped Great Britain's Lawrence Clarke to win their 60m hurdles heat

Britain's team captain (right) to sneak into the final of the event qaulifying in the semi-finals in 7.66sec

Karol Konieczny (front) crashed out of the men's 800m after colliding with Austria's Andreas Rapatz

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/othersports/article-2982401/Katarina-Johnson-Thompson-sets-60m-hurdles-personal-best-pentathlon-European-Indoor-Championships.html#ixzz3TvkD669E
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Katarina Johnson-Thompson signs up for Great City Games Manchester

Katarina Johnson-Thompson is British athletics' latest golden girl
22-year-old star won pentathlon gold at European Indoor Championships
'KJT' has now signed up to compete on home soil in Manchester in May

PUBLISHED: 16:47, 9 March 2015 | UPDATED: 17:06, 9 March 2015

Katarina Johnson-Thompson will compete in the 200 metres hurdles and long jump at the Great City Games Manchester in May.

The 22-year-old, who broke Jessica Ennis-Hill's British pentathlon record to land gold at the European Indoor Championships in Prague last week, will compete in the city-centre street athletics event for the first time on May 9.

'I've seen the events on television before and love the idea of competing so close to the public. I can't wait to experience it first-hand for the first time,' she said.

Katarina Johnson-Thompson won gold in the pentathlon at the European Indoor Championships last week

Johnson-Thompson, running in the 60m hurdles in Prague, will run the 200m hurdles in Manchester in May

Britain's new golden girl will also compete in the long jump at the Great CityGames Manchester

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Monday, 9 March 2015