Defending world champion level on points with American
Rare moment of joy for GB athletes amid relay failure
Even after two energy-sapping days, seven thrilling events, and one almighty final heave, Britain’s Katarina Johnson-Thompson sat slumped on the National Stadium track not knowing whether she had won a world championship heptathlon bronze.
As she looked at the giant scoreboard and waited, the American Anna Hall’s name came up first. Gold with 6,988 points. Then Ireland’s Kate O’Connor, with a national record of 6,714pts for silver.
There was a further wait for the third name to appear, and when it did her heart sank. Taliyah Brooks, USA, 6,581 points, bronze. But then it began to beat with joy again. Almost instantaneously, Johnson-Thompson’s name came up with 6,581 points next to it, along with a bronze medal symbol. For the first time anyone could remember at a global heptathlon there had been a tie.
