Katarina Johnson-Thompson claimed a dramatic world heptathlon bronze medal in Tokyo after a rare tie with American Taliyah Brooks, both finishing on 6,581 points. The Briton, who had slipped to fourth after the javelin, needed to run six seconds faster than Brooks in the final 800m event to secure a medal. She delivered a time of 2:07.38, while Brooks ran a personal best of 2:13.17, leading to a tense wait for the official result.
When the scoreboard initially showed Brooks in third, Johnson-Thompson's heart sank, but moments later her name appeared alongside the same points and a bronze medal symbol. 'I thought I wasn't going to get it because my name was underneath hers,' she said. 'I've never seen it before. And I'm not questioning it.' The 32-year-old added: 'Exactly the same points, you couldn't write it. And I'm so happy that neither of us lost by a point because that would have been horrendous.'
The medal marked an emotional full-circle moment for Johnson-Thompson, who tore her calf during the 200m at the Tokyo Olympics four years ago and left the track on crutches. 'I've been through it in this stadium,' she said. 'It holds so much emotion... to finish with a medal this time around I can't put into words the full circle moment.' She admitted that even visiting the track to support a training partner last week brought back painful memories. 'I literally started crying straight away,' she said. 'It's the same track where the big trauma happened in my life.'
Elsewhere, Britain's Max Burgin finished sixth in a men's 800m final that saw Olympic champion Emmanuel Wanyonyi win gold in a championship record 1:41.86. The British relay teams had a mixed night, with the women's 4x400m finishing last in their heat, the men's 4x100m dropping the baton, and the men's 4x400m scraping into the final. Only the women's 4x100m team impressed, highlighting a stark contrast to Britain's clean sweep of five relay medals at the Paris Olympics.
