Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games - Katarina Johnson-Thompson planning to make 'at least two' more Olympics

ByEnis Koylu

Updated 05/04/2021 at 17:35 GMT

Having failed to win a medal in her previous two Olympic Games appearances, Team GB star Katarina Johnson-Thompson says she will have at least two further chances at glory and is planning for success at Paris 2024 as well as Tokyo 2020, which finally takes place this summer after its Covid-19 postponement.

Katarina Johnson-Thompson has revealed that she plans on appearing in at least two more editions of the Olympics as she hunts her first medal in Tokyo this summer.

The world heptathlon champion is set to feature in the Games for the third time in her career, having finished 14th and sixth in London 2012 and Rio 2016 respectively.

While she has never found success in the Olympics, she is hoping it will be third time lucky in Japan - but says she will almost certainly have at least another opportunity in Paris in 2024.

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“Another two at least, counting Tokyo," she told 22 Voices when asked how many more Olympics she has left in her.

"Definitely until Paris 2024, that’s for sure, that will be almost like a home Games. It’s super difficult to win an Olympic medal, I think that’s why the weight behind it is always there, and you have to be ready on that day, every four years.

“It’s important for me because I have achieved a lot of things I want to achieve, and I still don’t feel like I’ve reached my full potential, I still don’t feel like I’ve gotten everything I wanted out of the sport. So, I think that’s a huge driving force and my motivation.”

The Tokyo Games, like many other sporting events, has been pushed back a year due to the Covid-19 pandemic but the 28-year-old says she has been better motivated during Britain's third national lockdown than its two predecessors.

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“When it got announced that the Olympics were going to be postponed, it was like my whole motivation and energy to get up and do what I normally do each day started to fade away week by week. It hit me the hardest because my dreams of Tokyo 2020 went in the bin.

“The third lockdown I’ve been very positive. Facilities are more open to trying to facilitate elite athletes because Tokyo is happening, so we have to find a way now.”

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