Katarina Johnson-Thompson Leads Paris 2024 Heptathlon

Katarina Johnson-Thompson leads the heptathlon at Paris 2024 after four events as she chases her first Olympic medal. The 31-year-old Briton, a two-time world champion, impressed with a personal best in the shot put, throwing 14.44m, and followed up with a strong 200m performance, clocking 23.44 seconds. These achievements put her back ahead of rival Nafissatou Thiam, the two-time reigning Olympic champion from Belgium. Johnson-Thompson now holds a narrow lead with 4,055 points, 48 ahead of Thiam, while American Anna Hall trails by 99 points.

The heptathlon concludes on Friday with the long jump, javelin and 800m events where the competition for gold will intensify. Despite shot put being one of her weaker events, Johnson-Thompson limited her losses to Thiam, who threw a personal best of 15.54m. Reflecting on her performance, Johnson-Thompson expressed pride, especially in the shot put, calling it “probably the best thing I’ve ever done in my career.”

Johnson-Thompson’s journey has shown resilience, including overcoming a career-threatening Achilles rupture and an injury at the Tokyo Olympics. Last year, she won her second world title in Budapest, which set her up for a strong challenge for Olympic gold in Paris. If the athletes match their personal bests in the remaining events, Thiam is projected to score 7,220 points.

Katarina Johnson-Thompson would be close behind with 7,143 points and Hall with 7,022 points, setting up a thrilling final day for the gold. Additionally, British athletes Laura Muir and Georgia Bell reached the women’s 1500m final, set for Friday. Muir and Bell advanced from their semi-final while teammate Revee Walcott-Nolan ran a personal best but did not progress.