That attitude was present in March this year as she set personal bests and nearly broke the world record for the pentathlon at the European Indoor Championships in Prague, becoming only the second athlete to pass the 5,000-point barrier.
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It left the Liverpool heptathlete visibly shell-shocked, seeing her go from second overall to completely out of contention after failing to add a point.
“This is the best moment in my life”, Lopez told reporters.
The double Olympic champion, back at the Bird’s Nest stadium, the scene of the biggest disappointment of his career when he failed to make the final of the 2008 Olympics, has now not lost at an Olympics or World Championships since 2011.
“This is the last place I wanted to be right now”. This time a year ago I’d just had my son and it’s an incredible feeling. But it was typical that the Briton powered down the home straight nevertheless to win in 2min 10.13sec before collapsing to the floor in delight and relief.
Olympic champion Jessica Ennis-Hill, who only made a decision to compete four weeks ago, regained the heptathlon world title yesterday after what she described as her “hardest year ever”.
MULT-EVENTER Jessica Ennis-Hill won arguably her most rewarding gold medal in Beijing earlier today.
That secondary event gives her the chance to gain some sort of retribution in the very discipline that caused her so much pain yesterday.
However, she ended the session 1,123 behind her compatriot after failing to record a distance, with the third red flag particularly exasperating. In an instant, the contest turned.
It left Johnson-Thompson visibly shell-shocked yet she continued in the javelin and 800m – although she had no choice under IAAF guidelines, with British Athletics confirming there would have be a medical reason to withdraw and medical confirmation she could compete again in the long jump. “To say it’s been a tough evening is an understatement”.
Theisen-Eaton, who is married to American decathlon world record-holder Ashton Eaton, repeated her silver medal-winning performance at the 2013 world championships, with a score of 6,554.
More important than being $60,000 better off for her win, she has put a priceless memory in the bank for her boy and served as an inspiration to working mothers everywhere. As her opponents fell away through pressure or imperfection, she was virtually home and dry. “So I definitely think it’s going to help me”.
“Obviously Brianne has been performing really well all year and Kat is in great form as well”, she said. As it turns out, this remarkable sportswoman will return with a gold around her neck.
But in the next heat all eyes were on Ennis-Hill. Her own tears were of pure relief and elation. I just went over and said ‘what’s the deal?’ I was a bit deflated at that point to say the least.
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“I got a no-jump in the first round and that puts you on the back foot”, she explained.
