by Katarina Johnson-Thompson aims to end her Olympic hood with heptathlon gold in Paris after a long and difficult road to the 2024 Games.
The 31-year-old is a World and Commonwealth champion but Olympic gold is the only honor that has left her during her highly successful career. She finished 13th in the heptathlon in London and sixth in Rio before a torn calf muscle dashed her hopes at the Tokyo Olympics, with Paris now her time to top the podium.
Along with struggles on the road, it hasn’t been an easy ride for Johnson-Thompson over the past few years, as she’s had to deal with the loss of her father as well as navigate a long-distance relationship with another team. Star GB.
Ahead of the biggest moment of her career so far, here’s what you need to know about the Liverpool-born star’s life outside the Olympics.
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A family tragedy
Johnson-Thompson’s father Ricardo died in 2017 aged 59.
He died on his native island of the Bahamas, where he had lived far from his daughter since she was one. However, the two remained on good terms and the heptathlete admitted that it was a “difficult” time for her and her family in an interview with the Daily Mail.
“The thing that happened with my father is why I am so complicated in running competitions,” she explained. ‘He didn’t see me win and that really made me want to win in front of my mum, if that makes sense.
“She comes to see me in every single competition and I always feel for her when I don’t do well, or when I let myself down, or if I don’t reach my potential.”
She told the Guardian afterwards: “I’m proud of myself because there have been some hard and difficult times. But dad definitely motivated me this year. I wanted to win things. I wanted my family to see me doing well. And I think I did that for sure.”
Net worth
Johnson-Thompson is said to have an estimated net worth of around $4.5 million.
Back in 2022, she was named Britain’s fourth richest sportswoman under the age of 30 according to the Heat Rich list.
Much of her net worth has been boosted by her partnership with Nike, and she has also endorsed other huge brands including Estee Lauder, EA, Müller and British Gas.
Despite her high net worth, Johnson-Thompson admitted she struggled to buy her first home as she came out in support of one percent mortgage rates to help more people buy a home.
Featured on GB News’ On the Moneyshe said: “I struggled to buy my first house a few years ago. I think the illusion of track and field, it was so nice to say the facts and all those things, but a lot of people, if they’re not ranked in the top 10 in the world, are struggling to earn a decent wage.
“For me the struggle was that my career wouldn’t last a lifetime and I’ll probably retire when I’m 35 and a lot of banks don’t really understand that payment arrangement. But with the rising cost of living, many people are struggling to get on the property ladder for a variety of reasons.”
Olympic Boy
Johnson-Thompson has been dating Olympic and Welshman Andrew Pozzi since 2018.
However, the couple have been in a long-distance relationship with Pozzi living in Cardiff and Johnson-Thompson living in Loughborough, as well as Montpellier, since they started dating.
The Liverpool-born star opened up about their relationship earlier this year, as she told the Observer: “We’ll start a program together and watch it at the same time. We’ve been watching Traitors. I don’t think yes. I’d make a good traitor. I can’t lie to save my life.”
Pozzi won gold at both the European and World Indoor Championships and appeared at the last three Olympics before pulling out last month with a “serious ankle fracture”.
In a post on social media, he wrote: “After missing the 2023 season with a serious injury, I have fought very hard to return to the world stage and earn my place at what would be a fourth Olympic Games I have Unfortunately, as I continued. building and improving on my 13.23 clocking in Montgeron, my body gave way in training to another major ankle break.”
“I have decided that now is the right time for me to retire from professional athletics,” Pozzi added. “This is a very sad moment, but also one that I can fully accept in the knowledge that I have done every minute of my time in this sport with uncompromising focus, dogged determination and the highest standards .”
However, he proudly shared his other half’s achievements, taking to social media to follow Johnson-Thompson’s world heptathlon gold last year and writing: “Best athlete in the world. Again.”
Termination decision
Having identified 35 as a potential retirement age, Johnson-Thompson could make it to the next Olympics in Los Angeles. However, going into the Paris Games, there was speculation that it could be her last, whether or not she would make it onto the podium in the biggest competition of her life.
But Johnson-Thompson says she now has plans to retire from the heptathlon, telling Athletics Weekly: “The phrase, ‘one last push’ doesn’t come to mind. I feel like I’m growing into myself and the longer I was doing the sport, the more I know about myself and I know how to be ready for it.
“I understand what my body needs, what my mind needs, and how to achieve a good performance. I feel like I’m getting stronger in the sense that I know how to do it better than I did 10 years ago. It makes me sad to think of having all this knowledge and then stopping. As long as I’m competitive, I’ll continue with the sport.”
