Katarina Johnson-Thompson facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
Katarina Johnson-Thompson
MBE

Johnson-Thompson in March 2018
Personal information
Nickname(s)	KJT
Born	(1993-01-09) 9 January 1993 (age 32) Liverpool, England
Height	1.83 m
Weight	68 kg
Sport
Sport	Athletics
Event(s)	Heptathlon, Pentathlon
Club	Liverpool Harriers
Coached by	Aston Moore
Achievements and titles
Personal best(s)	Heptathlon: 6981 NR (Doha 2019) High jump: 1.98 m (Rio de Janeiro 2016) Indoors Pentathlon: 5000i NRi (Prague 2015)
Medal record Women's athletics Representing  Great Britain Olympic Games Silver 2024 Paris Heptathlon World Championships Gold 2019 Doha Heptathlon Gold 2023 Budapest Heptathlon World Indoor Championships Gold 2018 Birmingham Pentathlon Silver 2014 Sopot Long jump European Championships Silver 2018 Berlin Heptathlon European Indoor Championships Gold 2015 Prague Pentathlon Gold 2019 Glasgow Pentathlon Representing  England Commonwealth Games Gold 2018 Gold Coast Heptathlon Gold 2022 Birmingham Heptathlon Women's athletics (age-grade) Representing  Great Britain European U23 Championships Gold 2013 Tampere Heptathlon World Junior Championships Gold 2012 Barcelona Long jump World Youth Championships Gold 2009 Brixen Heptathlon

Katarina Johnson-Thompson, born on January 9, 1993, is an amazing English athlete. She's known for competing in multi-event sports like the heptathlon and indoor pentathlon.

In the heptathlon, she has won two World Championships and two Commonwealth Games gold medals. She also earned a silver medal at the Olympics and the European Championships. For the indoor pentathlon, she is a world champion and a two-time European champion.

Katarina holds the British record in the heptathlon with 6,981 points, which she achieved at the 2019 World Championships. This score makes her one of the best heptathletes of all time. She also holds the British indoor pentathlon record with 5,000 points.

She has competed against other top athletes like Jessica Ennis-Hill and Nafi Thiam. Katarina is the only athlete to have beaten Nafi Thiam in a major global competition since 2016.

Katarina also competes in individual events like the high jump and long jump. She holds the British outdoor high jump record. In the long jump, she won gold at the 2012 World Junior Championships and silver at the 2014 World Indoor Championships.

Katarina's Early Life & Start in Sports

Katarina Mary Johnson-Thompson was born in Liverpool, England, on January 9, 1993. Her mother, Tracey Johnson, was a dancer, and her father, Ricardo Thompson, was from the Bahamas.

She spent her first year in the Bahamas before moving back to England with her mother. They lived in Halewood near Liverpool, where Katarina first became interested in athletics. She later moved to Woolton and attended St Julie's Catholic High School. She even became good friends with actress Jodie Comer there! Katarina then studied sports science at Liverpool John Moores University.

Starting Her Athletics Journey

Katarina represents the Liverpool Harriers club. Early in her career, her training was supported by the Wells Sports Foundation. This foundation helped her get advice from Olympic champion Jessica Ennis-Hill.

In 2009, Katarina won a gold medal in the heptathlon at the 2009 World Youth Championships in Athletics in Italy. Unfortunately, she missed most of the 2010 season due to a knee injury called "jumper's knee."

In May 2012, Katarina broke Jessica Ennis's British junior record in the heptathlon. She scored 6007 points, which helped her qualify for the 2012 London Olympics. At the 2012 World Junior Championships in Athletics in Spain, she decided to focus on the long jump instead of the full heptathlon. She won a gold medal in the long jump with a distance of 6.81 meters.

Olympic Games & World Championships

Johnson-Thompson (C) at the 2012 London Olympic Victory Parade.

Katarina competed for Great Britain at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London. She finished 13th in the women's heptathlon.

In 2013, at the World Championships, Katarina finished 5th in the heptathlon. She set new personal bests in the 200m, long jump, javelin, and 800m. She was very close to winning a bronze medal!

First Major Medals

Johnson-Thompson won the pentathlon at the 2015 European Indoor Championships in Prague. She was only the second woman to score 5,000 points or more in the event.

In 2014, Katarina set a new personal best in the long jump, jumping 6.92 meters. This made her the second-best British long jumper of all time. She won gold at the Hypo-Meeting in Austria but missed the Commonwealth Games due to a foot injury.

In 2015, she broke the British high jump record with a jump of 1.97 meters. She also set a new British indoor long jump record, jumping 6.93 meters.

At the 2015 World Championships in China, Katarina had a tough time. She was in second place after the first day but had three foul jumps in the long jump, which meant she couldn't finish the competition well.

Katarina competed at the 2016 Rio Olympics. She finished 6th in the heptathlon. However, her high jump performance of 1.98 meters during the heptathlon set a new British record! This jump would have been enough to win gold in the individual high jump event.

After the 2016 Olympics, Katarina changed coaches and moved to France to train. At the 2017 World Championships in London, she finished 5th in the heptathlon. She also placed 5th in the individual high jump event.

Becoming a World & Commonwealth Champion

Johnson-Thompson competes in the long jump event at the 2018 European Championships in Berlin.

The year 2018 was fantastic for Katarina! She won gold at the World Indoor pentathlon and then won the heptathlon gold at the Commonwealth Games. She also earned a silver medal at the European Championships, setting a new personal best score.

In 2019, Katarina set another personal best in the heptathlon at a competition in Austria. Later that year, she won gold in the heptathlon at the World Championships in Qatar. She set a new British record with 6981 points!

The 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo were challenging for Katarina. She had an Achilles tendon injury before the Games. During the heptathlon, she suffered a calf muscle tear and couldn't finish the competition.

However, Katarina bounced back! She won the heptathlon again at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, England. In 2023, she won her second World Champion title in the heptathlon at the World Championships in Budapest.

In 2024, Katarina competed at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris. She won a silver medal, which was her first Olympic medal! She also set personal bests in the shot put and 800m during this competition.

Katarina's Personal Life

Katarina splits her time between her hometown of Liverpool and Montpellier, France. She has been dating fellow athlete Andrew Pozzi since 2018. She is also a big fan of her local football team, Liverpool FC.

Images for kids

• 

  Katarina at the Anniversary Games in London, July 2016.

• 

  Johnson-Thompson (R) with Anouk Vetter at the 2017 World Championships held in London.

• 

  Johnson-Thompson won the 800 m run to claim the pentathlon title at the 2018 World Indoor Championships in Birmingham.

Awards and Honours

• British Athletics Writers' Association: 2019 Female Athlete of the Year
• Sports Journalists' Association: 2023 Committee Award
• Nominated for the Laureus World Sports Award for Comeback of the Year in 2024
• Awarded an MBE for her amazing contributions to athletics.

See also

In Spanish: Katarina Johnson-Thompson para niños

• List of World Athletics Championships medalists (women)
• List of IAAF World Indoor Championships medalists (women)
• List of Commonwealth Games medallists in athletics (women)
• List of European Athletics Championships medalists (women)
• List of European Athletics Indoor Championships medalists (women)
• Great Britain and Northern Ireland at the World Athletics Championships
• List of Commonwealth records in athletics
• List of English records in athletics
• List of people from Merseyside