Aurelia Butler

FROM THE depths of despair to the top of the world, Katarina Johnson-Thompson’s brilliant Budapest bullion caps one of Britain’s greatest sporting comeback stories.It would have been so easy, and few would have blamed her, had KJT chucked in the heptathlon at several points in the four years since she first won a world title.
Katarina Johnson-Thompson has capped a remarkable comebackCredit: Reuters
Johnson-Thompson of Team Great Britain won gold in the women’s heptathlonCredit: Getty
Delighted Johnson-Thompson celebrates her incredible momentCredit: Getty
For so long, heartbreak had been the overriding emotion for this injury-hit, out-of-luck 30-year-old.
To name but a few adversities, there had been a ruptured Achilles, career-saving surgeries, Covid isolation, coaching changes and training-base switches.
Tears flowed when she hit rock-bottom – that horrible moment when she completed only three of the seven events at the Tokyo Olympics due to a right calf injury.
It explains why this stunning victory by the Danube means so much for her, the British squad and track-and-field back in the UK.
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It proves that however bad things can get, however low you reach, it is possible to recapture past glories.
Now some may argue that the field was missing the injured Nafi Thiam, the two-time Olympic and world champion.
But do you honestly think Johnson-Thompson cares?
It was about time she earned a major slice of good fortune.
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After all that she has been through, the chance to win a medal of any colour gives her the sweetest of redemption arcs.
Overnight, Johnson-Thompson had been in second place after four events, lying 93 points behind the American Anna Hall, who had her left calf strapped up.
On day two of competition, the long jump and javelin were pivotal events – and the Brit excelled at both.
A leap of 6.54 metres under a baking hot Hungarian sun put her top of the 21-woman field.
And then her javelins, often seen as her weakest event, flew through the air so smoothly and confidently.
A mark of 46.14 metres represented a personal best and was only bettered by six other strongwomen.
It was 1.81 metres further than what she produced a year ago at the Birmingham Commonwealth Games.
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Heading into the 800m, the seventh and final discipline, she had a 26-point lead over Dutchwoman Anouk Vetter.
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It was tight between her and Colorado runner Hall, 22, and until the last 200m of the 800m, she was behind in the standings.
But by finishing just 1.54 seconds seconds behind, she was able to cement her position as the number one heptathlete in the world. More

ZHARNEL HUGHES has become the world’s fastest man in 2023 after receiving help from Usain Bolt.And he once had to use his pace to race away from a gunman but now wants to be a pilot.
Zharnel Hughes is hoping to land gold at the World ChampionshipsCredit: Reuters
Jamaican legend Usain Bolt is a regular at the training base of Britain’s fastest-ever man Zharnel HughesCredit: AFP
The 27-year-old completed the 100m in 9.83 seconds this year, smashing Olympic legend Linford Christie’s over 30-year record, making him Britain’s quickest ever sprinter.  
That time was also the best so far in 2023 and now Hughes harbours the hopes of Great Britain on his shoulders as he heads into the World Championships in Budapest.
Despite still yet to equal Bolt’s world record 9.58s from 2009, he trains under iconic coach Glen Mills, who guided the Jamaican to his eight Olympic gold medals.
Bolt, despite being retired, remains a regular at the facility and Hughes is over the moon to be at close quarters with the superstar.
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He told the Telegraph: “Usain is somebody I always looked up to. Every time we see each other in the gym, because he goes to the same gym as I, we always fist bump and ask each other how we are doing.
“It’s just a great privilege to be in the same company that he once was.”
However, while in Bolt’s homeland of Jamaica, Hughes also suffered a near-death experience in 2018 with an armed robber while in the car park of the training base.
Hughes said: “I was at the trunk of my car putting on my sneakers and I saw this shadow in front of me. Then this guy is asking me for my phone and wallet.
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“I was thinking, ‘What?’ and then I see his gun. So then it is, like, ‘OK, is this actually happening to me?’
“It was one of those panic situations. The gun is pointing at my stomach and my face and then I just got the smallest window because, I don’t know, he was looking away for a second. I took my chance.
“I just jumped down and hid under a car. Then someone else, a licensed firearm holder, came and fired back at him.
“Shots were being exchanged and the guy starts running away and firing wild shots all over the place. Other athletes were jumping down.
“When it was over, I got out and saw they were lying in the gravel, under the benches. There was a girl who uses the track and she was having an asthma attack.
“I went to my car and I was sitting there, thinking, ‘What was that?’ It was all just a few seconds but, wow.”
Hughes was amazingly back on the track within half an hour of that terrifying ordeal, showing his undying passion for the sport, but he also has another career goal that he would like to take off in the future.
He uses a flight simulator to practice flying aircraft in his spare time and one day he would like to become a pilot.
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Hughes added: “That’s what keeps me happy, that’s what keeps me relaxed.
“I would love to fly on a Gulfstream 650. That’s a beautiful aircraft.”
He broke the over 30-year British record set by Linford ChristieCredit: AFP More