Great Britain’s Katarina Johnson-Thompson is in sixth place after four events as she attempts to keep her heptathlon world crown in Oregon.
The 29-year-old, returning to wellness after numerous damages, moved up the standings with an overall second-place finish in the 200m.
She finished the first day of the heptathlon with 3,798 points. Belgium’s two-time Olympic champion Nafi Thiam, the silver medallist in 2019, leads on 4,071 points. She said I just wanted to be competitive and to find the form because I’ve been struggling a lot over the last year, trying to get that substance that I had back in 2018 and 2019, she continue by saying I’m working on a couple of things but I’m just glad to be out here and in one piece.
The champion from Doha in 2019, Johnson-Thompson recovered from a ruptured Achilles to make last year’s Tokyo Olympics, only to see her dream of a first Olympic medal ended by a calf injury in the 200m. She has completed only one full heptathlon since, coming seventh in Gotzis in May. In Eugene, she opened her competition with fifth place in a 100m hurdles heat won by Thiam, her 13.55 seconds way down on her 13.09 personal best. She jumped 1.83m in the high jump, 15cm below her personal best, and threw 12.92m in the shot put in the morning session.
Anouk Vetter of the Netherlands finished Sunday second overall behind Thiam, while the United States’ Anna Hall is third. Elsewhere for Great Britain on day three at Hayward Field, Joshua Zeller, competing at his first World Championships, was fifth in the men’s 110m hurdles final. Olympic bronze medallist Josh Kerr won his semi-final to reach the 1500m final. Team-mate Jake Wightman is also into the final but Neil Gourley missed out.
Matt Hudson-Smith won his heat to reach Wednesday’s men’s 400m semi-finals, where he will be joined by team-mate Alex Haydock-Wilson, while in the women’s 400m, Victoria Ohuruogu, Nicole Yeargin, and Ama Pipi all advanced. American two-time Olympic gold medallist Ryan Crouser, born and raised in Oregon, won the shot and put the title on home soil with a championship record of 22.94m.
In the men’s 400m hurdles, Brazil’s Alison dos Santos qualified fastest for the final, with Norway’s Olympic champion Karsten Warholm second overall with a season’s best of 48.00 seconds.
