Faster, Higher, Stronger: Katarina's Olympic Dream

Life is a journey.

Heptathlete Katarina Johnson-Thompson is about to embark

on one of the most important legs of her journey.

The 23-year-old from Liverpool is close to her chance

to compete on the biggest stage, for the biggest prize in sport.

An Olympic gold medal.

My name is Darren Campbell and in 2004, I won an Olympic gold

medal for Great Britain in the 4 x 100 metres relay in Athens.

Four years earlier, in Sydney,

I won an individual silver in the 200 metres.

I loved my career.

Athletics gave me so much and taught me so much.

I know that to win any medal, you need to work hard, very hard.

After bursting on the scene as a teenager

at the London Olympics, Katarina has gone on to win major championship

medals and has become one of the biggest stars in the sport.

Last year, with a heptathlon gold in her sights,

she endured heartbreak, but now, on the eve of the Rio Olympics,

she has Jessica Ennis-Hill and a top podium position in her sights.

Over the past few months, I've been given special access to Kat

in her qualification in the run-up to Rio

in her quest to become Olympic champion.

I used to live in Netherley in Liverpool, and it was me,

my mum, my nan, my grandad and my nan's sister,

all in one house growing up, so I had a big family.

Even though I was the only child.

She was an absolute joy. She was a tomboy.

-A tomboy?

-She was a tomboy.

When I thought I had a girl,

I thought... I bought all little dresses,

but she wasn't having any of it.

-As soon as she could walk, she wanted leggings on, you know?

-Yeah.

Always. I always had a house full of boys,

because she used to play football every day.

-She would never, she wouldn't let me buy any pink.

-No pink?

-No pink.

I was always, like, active and moving around, and stuff,

but my mum put me in ballet dancing lessons from quite a young age.

-Cos that's what she did as a profession.

-OK.

She was a dancer, and she danced around the world and staff,

and that's the sort of life she, like,

not pushed on me, but she wanted for me.

so literally, from a very

young age, I was in, like, ballet shoes, dancing, doing tap dance.

But then, when she said, that's it, I'm not doing it, I was heartbroken.

-I was going to say...

-Because she had a chance to go to the Royal Ballet and she's like,

I'm not doing it. And the teacher was saying,

how about if I gave you private lessons, the teacher was saying.

But she was like, no, I've had enough.

So, I said OK, if you're going to stop, you need a hobby of some sort.

And do you think your mum secretly wanted you to be a dancer?

Yes, she did. Like, literally, the day I stopped dancing,

her and the dance teacher were both crying their eyes out.

-Aw!

-I know. And we went to a number of different things, football,

keyboard lessons, and luckily, at drama school we did this athletics competition

at the end of each year to the track I still train on to this day.

That was the one thing I was excited about at the end of each

school year - "The summer's coming, I get to do athletics."

So, Kat, this is where you grew up, this is your old school.

Yeah. The only that changed is these extra railings.

Tell me about these railings.

Were you one of those naughty kids that tried to escape?

I was a really skinny kid, as well.

So God, no, I couldn't even fit my leg through there.

I'm trying to spot teachers that I used to ...

-I think that is Mr Coakley.

-You know that teacher?

-Yeah, I know him.

That's the one who used to be in charge of the sports.

-Hello, sir!

-Reminiscing on old times?

Reminiscing on old times, sir.

Yeah, I'm just talking about where I first started doing athletics and stuff.

And when I got that high jump record when I was younger.

You were well coached, weren't you?

You're taking the praise, sir.

But it does all start at school, doesn't it?

You know, without a good teacher like yourself who sees

a bit of talent in a young person, well, it's normally how it goes.

I took her to Harriers.

That was after, after you discovered that I did,

-that I was good at high jump.

-Remember I used to have...

I was going say, we didn't have a high jump thing,

he had a little bamboo stick!

INDISTINCT

I put Sellotape around to hold it.

And then measured the height?

-No, we didn't measure the height, we just kept going higher and higher.

-Just, raise your arm.

-That's what it used to be like.

-Yeah.

But, yeah, I remember, he was the sports...

He was the coordinator of all that and I couldn't wait to

go into year six, because I knew that he was the teacher.

And he'd let me off a little more,

because he knew I was sporty as well.

Ah, well, thank you, sir. Thank you for your time.

Good luck. Pop in any time. Catch you...

June 14 at Wavertree, June 16.

OK.

We've got sports day, Olympic sports day on June 6th.

-June 6th.

-Do you want to come and present the prizes?

-Yeah, OK. Cool.

-Thanks for that.

-Thank you, sir.

-See you.

It's weird.

Calling him "sir", as well.

Like, I saw him in Tesco and I was like, "hi, sir."

Did he say, you don't need to call me Sir?

The same height as well, not calling him sir, it's weird.

So, looking forward to 2016, what is it you need to do to qualify?

Get 6,200 points.

So, are you feeling the pressure?

Literally, I'm not feeling the pressure, but I'm not going to lie,

I'm feeling like I'm mentally terrified of getting injured.

And that's the biggest pressure on me this year.

I know that pressure all too well.

And with qualification for the Rio Olympics a must,

I knew that Kat would be feeling the nerves.

As they prepare for two days of intense competition at the

world-renowned Gotzis Hypomeeting.

Two years ago, when Kat last came here, she lifted the crown.

But this time, it wasn't about the glory,

it was just about guaranteeing that all-important place on the plane.

-Good morning, Tracy.

-Good morning.

We're moments away from the heat.

Katarina is on the line,

how well did you sleep and how well did she sleep last night?

She slept well. Everything's OK.

We had a good sleep.

-Yeah? You share a room?

-Yes.

-OK, did you sleep well?

-Not really, to be honest!

-Just want to get it over with, now.

-Just want to get it over with.

On your marks.

-COMMENTATOR:

-Johnson-Thompson in lane five.

GUN

They're cleanly away.

Johnson-Thompson finishing strongly though, takes it on the line.

CHEERING

-Mum? Mum? Do you feel better?

-Yeah.

-You feel better?

-Yes, I do.

-That was so smooth!

-Yeah.

-So smooth.

The first part's over with now, so...

I can breathe again, now.

-She looked calm.

-Yes.

She always does, it's me who gets nervy...

She's very calm.

You take away all her nerves?

And what do you have in your hand?

Oh, er...

So, the first event is out of the way

and a healthy contribution of points on the board

towards that all-important 6,200.

You could sense a calmer feeling in the camp.

But as Kat's long-term coach, Mike Holmes, knows all too well,

you can't take anything for granted.

She hasn't jumped in competition for what, eight or nine months.

Since she last jumped,

she's had a knee operation so she

has to believe that she is still

the athlete she was.

But Kat did what she does best and put in

a solid performance in the high jump, clearing 1.92 and putting

her at the top of the leaderboard going into the third event.

She's crossed off a couple of things, like,

it's her outdoor personal best.

-Ah!

-She's never gone higher than 1.9 outdoors.

-OK.

-Which is good.

-OK. So, two events gone...

-Yeah.

-..on to shot putt.

-Yeah.

But so far, so good.

So far, so good.

Yeah.

Famous last words.

As good form was not set to continue in the shot.

Kat's three attempts failed to impress her or Mike.

Her furthest throw being just over 11.5 metres.

The lowest distance of all the athletes competing.

With one event remaining of the first day, the team were

hoping that there weren't going to be any more stumbles.

-COMMENTATOR:

-Katarina Johnson-Thompson now begins to just pull away.

Coming away and opening up the gap and to a quick time, surely?

Yes, a personal best for Katarina Johnson-Thompson.

What a fantastic finish.

A hell of a finish.

I mean, the secret of being a good heptathlete is to come out of

some sort of disaster or minor disaster like the shot,

turn it around and run a world-class 200 time, really.

You're never going to have,

or almost never going to have, the perfect seven.

Aargh!

DARREN CHUCKLES

I'm on my tiptoes, now.

Now, rest, recovery, focus on day two.

Just get my head down, try to get some sleep.

I'm tackling the long jump tomorrow which is

a big talking point on everyone's clips, for me in the long jump

and hopefully I can overcome what happened to me last year.

And yeah, just get that qualifier and get my flight

on the plane...

to Rio. So fingers crossed

nothing happens.

At last year's World Athletics Championships in Beijing,

Katarina was a strong favourite for gold.

She couldn't have asked for a much better start to the competition.

Ending day one in second place, just behind Jessica Ennis-Hill.

And as she went in to day two, which kicked off with the long jump,

one of Kat's strongest events,

hopes were high that she could really push for that world title.

But after fouling her first two jumps,

it seemed that things were not going to be so straightforward.

-COMMENTATOR:

-Last chance, then, for Katarina Johnson-Thompson

to change her fate in this World Championships.

What does she do? What would you do?

Do you go for it, or do you play it safe?

I'm feeling good, I'm feeling optimistic for the long jump,

I think this is where I sort of turn my heptathlon around.

It normally is, anyway.

So I was looking forward to it.

Focus in the eyes.

Johnson-Thompson, last round.

Can she do it?

It looks better on the board ...

It's enormous! It's a huge jump!

That is incredible.

They're waiting...

Wait a second.

There's drama here

because I think there's a suggestion of a nick of the Plasticine.

Let's have a look.

I can picture it in my head, and I can see the board,

and I can see the officials and I heard the crowd and if it's

a no jump, the guy's already got the flag up,

before you even turn around, the guy's got the red flag up.

And there's no red flag.

So I was like, yeah, I've done it.

It felt like an amazing jump.

My coach would always say in the past, as well,

if they have to get a magnifying glass out it's like, normally,

it's fine, like you can't see anything,

you're actually looking for something.

It's confirmed.

Katarina Johnson-Thompson has had three fouls.

It's the end of her World Championships.

The three hours after that which I was just, like, awful, like, so bad.

She came to my... I just said, let's just go to my hotel, get away from here.

So she came and stayed with me for like, two days.

-We just sat there...

-Did you talk?

-Yeah, we talked, we cried.

We cried.

I cried there, obviously we cried together.

That's why I want to be here for her.

And support her in any way I can.

And these things happen.

It happens in sport.

If those things don't happen, then you don't learn.

You know, she's learned so much and you can see it all in her

attitude this year and everything.

When I got back, it was so strange.

It was, like, I was sitting in my room and it was like,

that's all happened and I'm just back here and that's just like...

like I was embarrassed.

I understand that feeling Kat would have had after Beijing.

It feels like you'll never recover and move on from that moment.

And in her case, that moment was the third red flag in the long jump.

But she's a top athlete and she knew

that she had to use that experience to push herself even harder.

To make sure that she got what she really wanted.

It was like the end of the season, I had such a bad time.

I didn't do well in Beijing, obviously, got the three

no jumps in the long jump and then tried to go somewhere else

to get the 62 to qualify,

and ended up pulling my adductor in the javelin.

And then I came back from holiday and pretty much 6am the next day

I was on the operation table because I just wanted to fix my knee.

I just didn't want to bring negative attention to myself, as well.

So I kept quiet and I was on crutches for two weeks

but now things are flying.

I'm jumping, pain-free, for the first time since about 2010.

Which is just, a whole different me, as a person.

It's crazy.

So, all that hard work, and it came down to this.

The first time that she would have competitively jumped

since the crushing events at the World Championships,

and since that potentially career-changing operation.

As Kat's first jump came nearer, you could really feel the tension.

And the smile said it all.

6.30, so that's safe.

It was behind the board. It looked behind the board, didn't it?

Yeah, behind the board.

Hey, listen, we'll take safe. I think we'll all take safe.

-Safe, safe!

-Safe, safe, safe.

Somebody else who's been very important, and probably took

a lot of the stress away from your mother is Barrie Wells.

Yeah, Barrie is very... I'd like to call him a close family friend now.

I think we've developed a real friendship over the years,

and it is a really weird one because it's like old and young,

and he always says, "What sort of role is it?"

It's sort of like a stepdad. He is so passionate about sport,

and particularly athletics and LFC, so we get along through that path.

When did you meet Kat and when did you spot that talent?

When she was 14, originally.

I spotted her at 14 and I just thought,

"This phenomenal youth high jumper and long jumper,"

phenomenal at that. Also a good hurdler, and she could sprint.

And I thought, "This girl can do everything. I've not seen her throw

"the javelin and shot, but her talent is just phenomenal."

So at that stage, I think in 2008, I then decided,

"I'm going to sponsor about 20 athletes,

"going right through to 2012,"

and I decided to pick out the 15-year-old Katarina.

To my absolute astonishment, UK Athletics said to me,

"We've never heard of her, we've never heard of her.

"Do you really want to sponsor her?"

'He's always had the belief in me and he knew it was all about Rio,

'it was long-term for him. But he funded the likes of me,

Jodie Williams, Jessica Ennis, so he's helped a lot of athletes

in a lot of different ways.

But the friendship sort of stuck after, with our love of LFC

and stuff. But, yeah, he helped me get my driving lessons

and put money towards my first car and stuff,

which took a lot of the pressure off, especially my mum, and me.

It's just not what you want after training, to have to get the bus.

-Get the bus!

-And I had to walk through the park and get the bus.

It's like another training session, isn't it?

Yeah, it's just like, "Aw, really?" So, he's been a huge help.

It's great that with her success she's giving back.

She is. She's the patron of it, she comes along and hosts events.

The kids love it, especially the young athletes.

They love it when she's here.

What do you think the score's going to be today?

Chelsea aren't very good any more, at the moment,

-so I'm going to go 3 - 1 Liverpool.

-3 - 1?

This is a good place to come and almost take you away from athletics.

You don't have to think about training and you can just relax.

Yeah, definitely. And it's another bonus, that I get

to come and see my favourite football team in Liverpool,

but it definitely is such a good atmosphere when you get here.

It's a feel-good vibe, you get to meet wonderful kids,

like Ellie here.

-I like that!

-Hiya.

Yeah, it's good to bond with the kids.

And you can see in the time we've been here, it really does raise

-their spirits, doesn't it?

-Yeah, definitely.

# Walk on

# Walk on

# With hope in your heart

# And you'll never walk

# Alone

# You'll never walk alone... #

Back in Gotzis, and as the heavens opened,

the lyrics of that famous Anfield anthem felt incredibly pertinent,

as it was becoming clear that all was not well with Kat.

She seemed to be struggling with her left quad,

the same leg that caused her problems so frequently in the past.

But she continued and was able to put in three throws

with the javelin, and at least get on the scoreboard.

Once, it might have been about coming out on top.

Now it was just a case of survival.

We kept seeing her trying to manipulate her quad a little bit,

try to get the blood flow through there.

Has that affected her? Is that what the issue is?

I think it feels tight and she's not taking no chances,

and she just wants to, you know... Nothing fancy,

she wants to put all her jumps in and everything, so she's just got

to be very careful cos she doesn't want to get any more injuries.

All right, well, look, we'll let you go take your seat

and we'll see you afterwards.

So it all comes down to this, the 800 metres.

Kat needs at least 763 points to get to that all-important 6,200,

meaning she has to run these two laps

in around 2 minutes, 24 seconds.

With an injury, that was easier said than done.

To say I felt the tension, that's an understatement.

On your marks...

STARTING GUN FIRES

Come on, Kat!

-COMMENTATOR:

-As you can see, Katarina Johnson-Thompson

going through, sitting near the back, and she'll just make sure

that she runs quickly enough to get the points.

Katarina Johnson-Thompson just comes home for fourth.

And she did it, with relative ease, in just over 2 minutes, 16 seconds.

A relief for all concerned.

Whoo.

Mike, relief?

Yeah, well, it's not what we came for, to be honest.

We came here to challenge for the leaders,

but as the competition evolved and Kat picked up a little bit of

a problem in the 200, at the end of the first day, you know,

the thing was in jeopardy for a while, so to come through the 800

with the score we need to qualify for the Olympics, that's...

I suppose you could say it's satisfying. Relief, yeah.

It's been tough, let's be fair.

-The last nine, ten months have been really, really tough.

-Yeah.

There's been a lot of highs and lows,

and even the two days here, there's been a lot of highs and lows.

The worst-case scenario could have been having to do another

heptathlon before Rio.

That would have been disastrous, really, really...

That would have really put the whole Olympic year in jeopardy.

CHEERING

Going into it, I just wanted to get 6.2,

but when you go through it and get a couple of PBs,

you start to get yourself a little bit gassed and it's like,

"Yeah, I'm basically on for a PB score!"

But I just brought it back today and job done.

I need to eat my own words and I came here for a 6.2, and I got 6.3,

so I've got my plane to Rio, and that's all I can do.

Your mum has been through the same rollercoaster

that you've been through, and it was interesting,

before the 800 metres she spent a lot of time with you,

as your rock, and, yeah,

it really did seem just to get you in the right frame of mind to

just do what you needed to do, which was 6,200 points.

Yeah, I think she's a familiar face and she's just got this

calming atmosphere around her. I just definitely needed my mum.

-Brilliant.

-Yeah, thank you.

-Good job.

I think, as Kat said, the events of Gotzis were a real reminder

for everyone how unpredictable and potentially turbulent sport

can be, particularly athletics, and even more so multi-eventing.

After she'd had a bit of time to recover,

I went back to visit Kat at home to see what she'd made of it all.

Hey!

DOG BARKING

-Hi, good to see you again.

-Good to see you too. Come in.

-Good to see you.

-Do you want a drink?

-Yes, please, just water.

-Are you sure?

-I'm trying to pretend to be healthy,

-so, yeah, water would be great.

-OK, is tap water OK?

Yeah, that's fine, that's fine.

So how have you been feeling since Gotzis?

Yeah, things have gone well. Obviously heptathlon takes a lot

out of you, so at the minute I'm just trying to rest and recover

and just get my head around the fact

that the next big thing is the Olympics.

So this is Chorizo, he's the one who always likes to play,

and this is Bronx, he's the one who always likes to eat.

-So this one's Bronx?

-Yeah, Bronx is the brown one, Chorizo...

Oh! SHE LAUGHS

Come on now, play nice. There's yours.

Do they help keep you relaxed?

I don't know. I think anyone who's a dog lover or a dog owner

can relate. They're always just constant.

They're always here and they're always so loving.

Yeah, they're my two little best friends, I think.

So, in Gotzis we saw that you were able to complete the heptathlon,

but you did pick up a slight injury. How are things now?

You've been back over a week, so how are things feeling?

Yeah, it's been exactly eight days since I finished,

and things are going well. Things are actually quite good.

I think it showed in my maturity in Gotzis, that I was able to feel

and understand and know my body, and know when to push it,

otherwise it just would have been back in the same similar situation

as last year. And, yeah, I can't feel my quad any more,

and the important thing was I got 6.2.

But now there's a smile on your face, you seem alive,

is there now a bigger inner strength of what the potential is

come Rio, because you had some great performances as well out in Gotzis?

Yeah, I can't believe it. At the end of the 800 I was just happy...

I knew that I needed a certain time to get the 6.2,

and then I was like, "Wow, I came sixth."

I was like, "Are you joking?"

I thought I would have fell way back after day two.

It gives me confidence that I can be not at 100% and still placing,

still getting onto the podium, onto that podium in Gotzis.

So, yeah, for me, I know I need to work on my throws,

but a lot of the work is done.

I know your mum likes to keep every single photograph.

She told me that she had a photo of you and I, and I asked her

to dig it out, and she did.

-How old were you? Cos I was 21 then.

-21!

-How old were you?

It was 2007, that programme says, so...

14. 14 years old. With really bad hair.

How long had you been doing athletics then?

-I'd been doing athletics since 2005.

-Wow.

-Yeah.

-So that was the beginning of your journey?

-Yeah, pretty much.

And, yeah, I remember I queued up, a big queue, after your autograph.

Not any more. There's no queue.

And signed it and got the photo. And, yeah, my mum...

-It's just crazy, isn't it?

-It's crazy. It's crazy.

I feel like I've been a part of your journey, and I feel like

I'm here now, in the middle of it.

At 14, did you ever imagine that you'd be sat here in your own house,

having achieved so much already as an athlete?

No, not at all.

And it's crazy, as a young athlete, as that kid there,

at 14 years old, I think everyone always wants to be an Olympic champ

but you can't, so you have to find a path to get there.

It's just crazy, in those years, that I came through.

Yeah, I can't believe it's 2016 now. Nine years on...

The thing for me, especially going to Anfield and seeing you

there with the kids, it's like,

you've gone on and done the same thing, giving back.

It really feels like that's important to you,

as well as obviously your athletic success.

Yeah, definitely. I always take the time to talk to kids

at the track, especially at my track. And when I do competitions...

I still did the Merseyside champs this year and there were a couple

of kids who came up to me there, so, yeah,

it definitely means a lot, and it meant a lot to me that day,

so, thank you. Thanks for the pic.