The popular Liverpudlian heptathlete feels she is in the shape of her life as she aims to put the tear-soaked disappointments of 2015 and 2017 behind her at the world championshipsBack in the 1960s Avis launched an audacious advertising campaign that broke the mould. Embracing their second-placed status in the car hire market behind Hertz, the
American company told the world: “When you’re only No 2, you try harder. Or else.” That line perfectly encapsulates Katarina Johnson-Thompson’s mindset as she prepares for the World Athletics Championships in Doha, which begin this Friday.
The 26-year-old has won World and European Indoor gold medals as well as Commonwealth gold over the past 17 months yet remains the second-best heptathlete in the world, behind the brilliant Belgian Nafi Thiam. But in recent months the Liverpudlian has driven herself harder than ever and she believes she is in the best shape of her life. “I don’t like to say that, obviously, because you have to deliver,” she says, chuckling to herself. “But I have had the best run-in ever in terms of preparation and now I just want to get out there and compete.