Katarina Johnson-Thompson secured a dramatic bronze medal at the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo after a remarkable tie with American Taliyah Brooks in the heptathlon. Both athletes finished with 6,581 points, a rare dead heat in the multi-event discipline.
The 32-year-old Briton admitted she was initially devastated when Brooks's name appeared first on the scoreboard. '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 medal was confirmed only when the bronze symbol appeared next to her name.
The decider came in the final event, the 800 metres. Johnson-Thompson, who had slipped to fourth after the long jump and javelin, needed to run six seconds faster than Brooks to claim bronze. She delivered a time of 2:07.38, while Brooks ran a personal best of 2:13.17, setting up the tie.
The result was an emotional full-circle moment for Johnson-Thompson, who tore her calf at the same stadium during the Tokyo Olympics four years ago. 'It holds so much emotion,' she said. 'To finish with a medal this time around, I can't put into words the full circle moment.'
Elsewhere, Britain's Max Burgin finished sixth in a fast men's 800m final won by Olympic champion Emmanuel Wanyonyi in a championship record of 1:41.86. The British relay teams struggled, with the women's 4x400m finishing last in their heat and the men's 4x100m dropping the baton, though the men's 4x400m qualified for the final.
