Tokyo 2020: Katarina Johnson-Thompson heptathlon hopes over after injury

Katarina Johnson-Thompson’s bid for a heptathlon medal at the Tokyo Games is over after she injured her Achilles in the 200m event.

The British world champion came into the Games with injury worries after a serious Achilles problem, and had barely competed this year.

Johnson-Thompson’s heptathlon began strongly in the 100m hurdles, where she won her heat in 13.27 seconds and defeated defending champion Nafi Thiam. She managed a third-place finish in the high jump event, clearing 1.86m, and then she performed an impressive throw of 13.31m in the shot, one of her weakest events.

Going into the 200m, Johnson-Thompson had slipped two places to fifth. She started quickly, but pulled up as she rounded the bend and went into the straight.

She picked herself up to jog over the line despite clearing being in pain, and was then disqualified for leaving her lane.

2012 long jump champion Greg Rutherford said: “Sadly this Olympic games isn’t going to be for KJT. We knew coming into this it was going to be a massively tall task to get her through what is a very, very gruelling event in the heptathlon.

“I know it’s been talked about, she fully ruptured her Achilles in December. The fact that she made the Olympic Games is remarkable. It shows the fact that medical science has moved forward leaps and bounds to help athletes. That was the sort of injury that would end careers not so long ago. But she was here and she was determined to give it her absolute all but it wasn’t to be.”

It is another blow to the Team GB athletics squad, after both Dina Asher-Smith and Adam Gemili suffered hamstring injuries.

Great Britain have only won a single athletics medal at the time of writing – silver for Keely Hodgkinson in the women’s 800m.