British heptathlon star Katarina Johnson-Thompson has been forced to withdraw from the Olympic heptathlon after suffering a right calf injury in the 200m.

The reigning world champion has battled with injury problems all year and barely competed in 2021, but won the 110m hurdles in the first stage of the Tokyo Games.

The 28-year-old was in fifth heading into the 200m, having struggled in the high-jump and finished 15th in the shot put. However, the chance of claiming a medal still appeared to be on the cards.

The Brit started the race quickly, but then pulled up and fell over as she headed towards the straight.

Visibly in pain, medical staff rushed onto the track to help Johnson-Thompson, but the heptathlete showed true character to refuse being taken off in a wheelchair and hobble to the finish.

Johnson-Thompson did not speak to the media following the incident but has now confirmed her withdrawal from the competition. 

This heartbreak for the British star is yet another cruel blow for Team GB, who have already seen both Dina Asher-Smith and Adam Gemili pull out with injuries.

Asher-Smith failed to reach the 100m final and later announced she would not take part in the 200m because of an ongoing hamstring problem.

Meanwhile, men’s 200m contender Adam Gemili also had his medal hopes dashed after pulling his hamstring just before the heats.

The 27-year-old finished fourth at Rio in 2016, where he missed out on a bronze medal by three-thousandths of a second.

As for Johnson-Thompson, her focus must now turn to the World Championships next July, with the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham and European Championships in Munich also scheduled for 2022.

Jessica Ennis-Hill, a former heptathlon Olympic gold medallist, told BBC that the last 18-months has been exceptionally difficult for the British star, after struggling so much with injury.

“She's been such a victim of the past 18 months,” Ennis explained. “She had the best year of her life in 2019, she was ready to go. When you're in that position, going into an Olympic year, that's the best place you can be - you just need to ride through the winter, maintain that form, and you're at the Olympics.

“But she's had that 18-month lay-off where it's really hard to maintain that, how hard you push with training. The event is so gruelling and it's ended up in injury. It's utterly, utterly devastating for her.
“For the years that she's had in the sport, there's been some lows. It seems so unfair that she has to be in this position again.”