On this day in 2015, Katarina Johnson-Thompson made history by setting a new British record in the heptathlon event. She achieved this feat at the prestigious Hypo-Meeting tournament in the Austrian city of Götzis, where she competed with some of the best athletes in the world. Her outstanding performance not only earned her a place in the record books but also cemented her status as one of the rising stars in British athletics.
The heptathlon is a gruelling seven-event competition that tests an athlete’s physical and mental capabilities to the limit. It consists of 100 metres hurdles, high jump, shot put, 200 metres, long jump, javelin throw, and 800 metres races. Athletes accumulate points based on their performance in each event, with the winner being the one with the highest overall score.
Katarina began the first day of the competition with an impressive showing in the 100 metres hurdles, finishing with a time of 13.37 seconds, a personal best at the time. She then followed up with a good showing in the high jump, clearing the bar at 1.89 metres, which earned her second place in that event. She finished day one in third place overall, behind the Canadian Brianne Theisen-Eaton and Belgium’s Nafissatou Thiam.
On the second day, Katarina started with a solid throw of 12.68 metres in the shot put, which kept her in third place. However, it was in the long jump where she really made her mark, achieving a distance of 6.92 metres, a new personal best, and the longest jump of the competition. She followed up with a respectable throw of 33.37 metres in the javelin, which kept her in second place going into the final event, the 800 metres.
The 800 metres is the last event of the heptathlon and is often the most gruelling, with athletes often having to dig deep to find the energy to complete it. Katarina had it all to do if she was to surpass Theisen-Eaton and win the competition. However, she rose to the challenge brilliantly, running a fantastic race and finishing in a time of 2:09.26 seconds, a new personal best and enough to secure her the silver medal with a total score of 6,682 points.
While Katarina narrowly missed out on gold, her performance was still an outstanding achievement, and she also broke the British record, which stood at 6,623 points and had been held by Jessica Ennis-Hill since winning gold in the 2012 Olympics. Ennis-Hill, who was unable to compete in that year’s Hypo-Meeting due to injury, was quick to congratulate Katarina, saying that she had taken the heptathlon to a “new level.”
Katarina’s achievement at the Hypo-Meeting was not the only one of her career. She had shown signs of her potential early on, setting new records at school and club level, and she had also won silver in the heptathlon at the 2012 World Junior Championships. However, her 2015 performance at Götzis marked a new chapter in her career, with many pundits and fans predicting that she would go on to even greater success in the future.
Indeed, Katarina went on to win gold in the heptathlon at the 2019 European Athletics Indoor Championships, setting a new personal best and championship record of 4,983 points in the process. She has also won numerous other medals and accolades, establishing herself as one of Britain’s top athletes and a serious contender for gold at the 2021 Olympics in Tokyo.
Looking back on her record-breaking performance at Götzis in 2015, Katarina said that it was a dream come true and that she was determined to build on it in the years to come. She also paid tribute to her coach, Mike Holmes, who had helped her to improve her technique and become a more consistent performer.
In conclusion, on this day in 2015, Katarina Johnson-Thompson set a new British record and made history in the heptathlon event at the Hypo-Meeting in Götzis. Her performance was a testament to her hard work, dedication, and talent, and it marked the beginning of a new era in her career. Five years on, she continues to inspire and excite fans with her performances, and we can only wait and see what achievements she will add to her already amazing repertoire in the future.