Come on KJT! star begins her bid for Olympic glory

HEPTATHLETE Katarina Johnson-Thompson began her quest for Olympic gold today as Team GB hunted for more medals.

- Miriam Burrell

The 31-year-old’s bid for glory got off to a solid start as she came second in her 100m hurdles heat — the first event in the two-day contest at the Stade de France in Paris.

An Olympic medal would cap a glittering career for the athlete known as KJT, who already has World Championships and Commonwealth Games titles to her name.

The Liverpudlian came 13th in her first Olympics in London in 2012, and was sixth at Rio in 2016. She failed to finish at Tokyo owing to injury.

“She’s very capable of winning that gold medal,” retired heptathlon champion Dame Jessica Ennis-Hill said. “She has been in a good place, coaching-wise and mentally coming into this year.”

Johnson-Thompson has had to battle nerves, biding her time in the Olympic village after the heptathlon was moved from the start of the athletics programme towards the end. “I’m gutted we’re on last,” she says.