Katarina Johnson-Thompson gold medal requirements explained as Olympics stage epic Nafissatou Thiam battle
Katarina Johnson-Thompson is 121 points behind Nafissatou Thiam
REUTERS
The heptathlon gold medal is still very much up for grabs for Katarina Johnson-Thompson going into the final event this evening - but she'll have to upset the odds in the 800m event.
Johnson-Thompson enjoyed a strong start to the heptathlon with two season-best performances in the 100m hurdles and high jump before a surprise personal best in the shot put.
A steady display in the 200m left her in the lead ahead of Nafissatou Thiam, but there was barely anything separating the two.
That trend continued in the long jump with Johnson-Thompson leaving it late to produce a jump of 6.40m.
Katarina Johnson-Thompson is 121 points behind Nafissatou Thiam
REUTERS
Her jump was just 1cm shy of Thiam's longest as the heptathlon headed into the penultimate event in the javelin.
Thiam was able to move clear of Johnson-Thompson in the javelin with a huge throw of 54.04m for a whopping 939 points.
Johnson-Thompson managed a season-best throw of 45.49m, but that was only good enough for 773 points.
That left two-time world champion trailing Thiam by 121 points heading into the 800m on Friday evening.
It's a big gap for Johnson-Thompson to claw back and she'll need to better Thiam's time by just over eight seconds to beat her to gold.
If both athletes match their personal best times then Thiam will retain her Olympic title.
The Belgian smashed her 800m personal best just two months ago in Rome in an impressive time of 2:11.79.
But her previous best time before that was 2:13.00 two years ago with the event not one of Thiam's main strengths.
Katarina Johnson-Thompson will need to run the race of her life
REUTERS
Johnson-Thompson is a strong 800m runner and smashed her own personal best time in last year's World Championships as she clocked 2:05.63.
If the British star was able to match that time, she would need Thiam to run no quicker than 2:13.89.
It sets up a fascinating battle this evening with both racing in the same 800m heat, getting underway at 7.25pm BST.
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Nafissatou Thiam is the strong favourite to win gold
REUTERS
A silver medal would still end Johnson-Thompson's Olympics hoodoo having failed to medal in her last three Games.
She made her Olympic debut in London 2012 at the age of 19 when Jessica Ennis-Hill famously took gold.
The British star made improvements in Rio 2016 and was a strong favourite for a medal in Tokyo before disaster struck when she suffered an injury in the 200m race.
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