Katarina Johnson-Thompson is a British athlete. As a multi-event competitor, she is best recognized as both a heptathlete and an indoor pentathlete. In the heptathlon, she has achieved the status of double world champion, double Commonwealth Games champion, and has earned silver medals at both the Olympic and European levels. In the indoor pentathlon, she is a world champion and a double European champion.

Representing Great Britain, Katarina Johnson-Thompson secured the heptathlon gold medal at the 2019 World Championships, setting a new British record with a score of 6,981 points, which places her sixth on the all-time rankings. Her heptathlon performances include a 13th place finish at the 2012 London Olympics, fifth at the 2013 World Championships, sixth at the 2016 Rio Olympics, and fifth at the 2017 World Championships. She claimed the gold medal in this event at the 2018 Commonwealth Games and subsequently earned silver at the 2018 European Championships. She successfully defended her title at the 2022 Commonwealth Games. Additionally, she holds the British indoor pentathlon record of 5,000 points and won gold in this event at the 2018 World Indoor Championships, as well as at the 2015 and 2019 European Indoor Championships.

Katarina Johnson-Thompson’s career has largely paralleled that of two prominent figures in the sport: fellow British athlete, Olympic and triple World champion Jessica Ennis-Hill, and Belgium’s triple Olympic and double World champion, Nafi Thiam, with whom she has competed since their junior years. Johnson-Thompson was the only athlete to have defeated Thiam in direct competition on a global stage since Thiam’s Olympic gold in 2016, until Thiam withdrew midway through the heptathlon at the 2025 World Athletics Championships. While Thiam has largely dominated their rivalry, especially at the Olympic Games, both athletes are regarded as the leading multi-event competitors of their generation, with their era significantly shaped by their competition.

No athlete other than the pair has secured a global outdoor gold medal in heptathlon from 2015 to 2024. When including Ennis-Hill, only one global title outside of the trio has been claimed by any athlete between 2008 and 2024, specifically the 2013 World Championships, with Anna Hall ultimately disrupting this group in 2025.

Katarina Johnson-Thompson has also intermittently represented Great Britain in her two primary individual events: the high jump and long jump. She previously held the British outdoor record for high jump until Morgan Lake became the first British woman to clear 2.00m. In the long jump, she was the 2012 World Junior champion and the 2014 World Indoor silver medalist.

On July 11, 2014, Katarina Johnson-Thompson achieved a new personal best in the long jump of 6.92m at the Glasgow Diamond League meeting, elevating her to number 2 on the British all-time list for this event. She claimed gold at the 2014 edition of the esteemed heptathlon Hypo-Meeting in Gotzis with a world-leading personal best score of 6,682 points, but unfortunately missed the Glasgow Commonwealth Games and the European Championships due to a foot injury.

Katarina Johnson-Thompson established a new British high jump record by clearing a height of 1.97m at the British Indoor Championships held in Sheffield on 14 February 2015, surpassing her former record of 1.96m achieved on February 8, 2014. Before Katarina Johnson-Thompson, the record was held by Debbie Marti, who jumped 1.95m in 1997. On February 21st, she set a new British indoor long jump record with a distance of 6.93m at the Birmingham Indoor Grand Prix.

In August 2015, Katarina Johnson-Thompson placed 28th in the heptathlon at the 2015 World Championships in Beijing, following three foul jumps in the long jump event. She had been in second place behind Jessica Ennis-Hill after the first day of competition.

Katarina Johnson-Thompson participated in the 2016 Hypo-Meeting in May of that year, marking her first major competition after undergoing knee surgery in the autumn of 2015: she finished sixth with a score of 6,304 points, successfully meeting the qualifying standard of 6,200 points for the 2016 Rio Olympics. At the Games, she narrowly missed out on a medal, finishing sixth in the heptathlon; however, her performance in the heptathlon high jump, where she cleared 1.98m, set a new British high jump record and would have been sufficient to secure gold in the separate Olympic high jump event.

In September 2016, UK Athletics announced that Katarina Johnson-Thompson had parted ways with her coach Mike Holmes, who had been training her since 2008.

Following this, she relocated to Montpellier, France, to join a coaching team led by Bertrand Valcin, becoming part of a training group that included Olympic decathlon medalist Kevin Mayer and double European heptathlon champion Antoinette Nana Djimou.

On 5–6 August 2017, Katarina Johnson-Thompson participated in the heptathlon at the 2017 World Championships in Athletics, which took place in London. After her move to Montpellier, she was anticipated to secure a podium finish; however, she was unable to clear the 1.86m barrier in the high jump segment of the heptathlon, achieving a successful jump of 1.80m, which earned her 978 points.

Katarina Johnson-Thompson concluded the event in 5th place with a total of 6,558 points. Additionally, she took part in the individual high jump event, where she finished fifth, recording a season’s best jump of 1.95m.

In 2018, Katarina Johnson-Thompson secured victories in both the World indoor pentathlon and the Commonwealth Games heptathlon titles. Subsequently, she earned a silver medal in the heptathlon at the European Championships, finishing behind World and Olympic champion Nafi Thiam. During this event, she achieved a personal best score of 6759 points, which elevated her into the world all-time Top 25.

In May 2019, at the 45th Hypomeeting held in Gotzis, Katarina Johnson-Thompson set a new personal best of 6,813 points in the heptathlon, which advanced her ranking to 18th on the world all-time list.

She claimed the gold medal in the heptathlon at the 2019 World Athletics Championships in Doha, Qatar, with a British record of 6,981 points.

However, her performance at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo was less successful. A ruptured Achilles tendon posed a significant threat to her preparation for the event, nearly causing her to miss it entirely. After making a sufficient recovery to compete, she found herself in fifth place after the first three events, including her preferred high jump. Unfortunately, during the 200m, she suffered a calf muscle tear and fell. Despite getting back up to finish the race, she was disqualified due to a technicality for stepping (or rather falling) out of her lane, which ultimately prevented her from participating in the remaining events.

Katarina Johnson-Thompson participated in the 2022 World Championships, where she finished in eighth place. She secured the heptathlon title at the 2022 Commonwealth Games held in Birmingham, England.

In 2023, Katarina Johnson-Thompson achieved gold once more in the heptathlon at the World Athletics Championships in Budapest, marking her second title as World Champion.

In 2024, Katarina Johnson-Thompson took part in the European Championships; however, she had to withdraw due to an injury prior to the 200m event. At the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, she earned a silver medal, which was her first Olympic medal, finishing closely behind Nafissatou Thiam. Her performance featured personal bests in both the shot put and the 800m.

Katarina Johnson-Thompson photos