Brave Kat's a whisker away

KJT's heroic heptathlon 800m finale lands her silver | 'Terminator' Toby, 19, clinches climbing gold

- JEREMY ARMSTRONG

TEAM GB’s Katarina JohnsonThompson had to settle for silver on another memorable night at the Paris Olympics.

The 31-year-old went into the 800m round of the heptathlon needing to beat Belgium's Nafi Thiam by 8.5 seconds to take gold.

And while she managed a personal best of 2:04.90, Thiam crossed the line within six seconds to claim her third successive gold.

It was still a first Olympic medal for KJT in her fourth Games.

The Liverpudlian won her second World Championship last year, having come back from a career-threatening achilles injury in 2020 then pulling up with a calf tear in the Tokyo Olympics.

She led the heptathlon overnight but Thiam overtook her with a powerful javelin throw, eventually taking gold by 6,880 points to 6,844.

KJT spent her early years in her late father Ricardo's hometown town Nassau in the Bahamas, before her parents divorced and she moved back to Merseyside.

She broke a 29-year junior record in England in the high jump with no prior training, so her mother Tracey took her to Liverpool Harriers athletics club.