Katarina Johnson-Thompson claimed her long-awaited Olympic medal with an emotional silver in the women’s heptathlon.
A debut in London, sixth in Rio, injury derailment in Tokyo and finally a place on the podium in Paris.
The 31-year-old led through five events before defending champion Nafissatou Thiam of Belgium powered ahead after the javelin.
It meant that Johnson-Thompson had to finish the final discipline, the 800m, just over eight seconds ahead of Thiam to claim gold.
The Liverpudlian gave it her all, setting a new PB of 2:04.90 to finish second in her heat but only 5.72 seconds ahead of the now three-time Olympic champion Thiam.
Johnson-Thompson ended just 36 points behind her rival with another Belgian Noor Vidts in third while the other Team GB athlete in the field Jade O'Dowda finished in 10th.
A phenomenal effort from KJT! 💪 🥈pic.twitter.com/hsCI6ugqeI
— Team GB (@TeamGB) August 9, 2024
The Brit was delighted as she took part in a victory lap around the Stade de France to tick off the major medal she was missing from her list.
The injury struggles had continued for Johnson-Thompson after Tokyo before she regained her world crown in 2023 to set her up perfectly in Paris.
And she duly delivered, producing a personal best in the shot put and scoring a post-achilles rupture best in the high jump.
Johnson-Thompson admitted her 200m was slower than she would have liked before she was not able to reach her usual distance in the long jump.
That opened the door for Thiam who took her opportunity even as Johnson-Thompson produced the second-furthest javelin throw of her life.
Sportsbeat 2024