Liverpool athlete Katarina Johnson-Thompson broke the British record for the 800m as she won gold at the European indoor championships pentathlon in Prague at the weekend, narrowly missing out on a new world record.
The 22-year-old from Halewood posted a time of 2 minutes 12.78 seconds, less than a second away from the world record and she was visibly disappointed despite easing to a gold medal, 304 points clear of Belgian Nafissatou Thiam.
She also won four of her five disciplines to register exactly 5,000 points – only the second time this mark has been reached and the second highest total in competition history.
The former Liverpool John Moores student spoke of her disappointment but also pride at reaching new heights for a British athlete in the discipline, tweeting: “I can’t believe how close I was to being a world record holder… 13 points off to come so close and not get it was devastating for me.
“On reflection, I’m happy to come away with my 1st senior gold! After my injury last year it’s just so nice to be back doing what I love.
“Another British record to finish off my indoor season with anyway, now onto the outdoors!!”
Johnson-Thompson smashed Olympic hero Jessica Ennis’s British record of 4,965 in the event and the gold medallist was one of a number of elite athlete to congratulate the Scouser. It was the first time she had competed in the pentathlon since 2012 but is in the form of her life and is currently ranked second in the world for the long jump and fourth in the high jump, having also broke British records in these events recently.