But after that I had a huge javelin throw, and then I knew I was going to do it. I am going to the World Champs!”

Johnson-Thompson’s path to a medal has perhaps been made easier with the withdrawal of double Olympic and world heptathlon champion Nafi Thiam.And I feel like this one, I’m just going to put all my experience into it and see where it gets me. And it’s always a stepping stone to next year, because ultimately the main goal of my career is to get an Olympic medal. This is maybe my last heptathlon before Paris – I don’t know if I’m going to do another one. So it’s like a full on dress rehearsal. Of course, I had physical injuries with my knee,” she explains. “But it was more than that. I was putting too much pressure on myself.I had a hard time enjoying athletics, and I had a battle inside my head. If you hurt your hamstring, you ask how long it takes to recover. But with emotions, I didn’t know how long it would take to recover.And it was hard to talk about. I was asking myself – what’s wrong with me? Am I still a good athlete?”

The depth of the competition is as strong as it’s ever been. So how open is the heptathlon going to be? Before Thiam dropped out, I felt like it was very much like a head-to-head between Thiam and Anna Hall. And now I don’t know what it’s going to take to win a medal. I don’t know what it’s going to take to win. So that’s why I feel like it’s open. In Doha it was exciting and I had a big battle,” Johnson-Thompson adds. “But with this one I feel completely calm and full of experience. I’ve done it so many times now and it never gets any easier. But you can approach it in a different manner. When Jaz won that medal in Istanbul, I guess, you know, what that does to a group? How does that impact a training group when you know, one athlete wins a major medal like that? I didn’t do an indoor season, I didn’t really know where my performances would be.He kept his cool. In the penultimate event he launched the javelin to a PB of 72.46m, second only to eventual champion Niklas Kaul’s 79.05m. And finally, Õiglane finished sixth with 8297, his second-best score ever. I was quite nervous,” says Vetter of her long jump. “It was my first competition in a long time. I was pleased with the results, but also about how I felt as an athlete. I could enjoy it. Six forty-two. That’s good. And it’s good for outdoors because long jump is such an important event in the heptathlon. Budapest will be Johnson-Thompson’s sixth world championships and she will be hoping that experience will be a factor when the competition gets going.

When 2016 European heptathlon champion Anouk Vetter took to the long jump runway at the Dutch indoor championships in February this year, she was unusually nervous. There was much at stake. If people have to guess my best events, they never guess shot put or javelin," Vetter adds. "I hope I can inspire that you don’t need to be big to throw far. You can be really strong and technically good, and I hope I’m a role model for that.” The complete athlete

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The big results came in February 2021, but Vetter now can’t wait to get outdoors. “It’s nice to do the long jump and hurdles, but I am a heptathlete. I want to do shot put and running, because otherwise I get a little bit bored. I need the variety.” After a golden few years of medals and national records, 2019 had been the hardest period of her career. Injuries, doubts and falling out of love with the sport that had made her a household name in the Netherlands.If you are a man who loves high quality, classy and durable watches but doesn’t want to spend a lot, then this unit is a good option. It doesn’t require regular maintenance thanks to its sturdy construction, hardwearing materials, and smooth movement. And after showing her competitive fires had not dampened by holding off Theisen-Eaton in an elbows-out sprint down the home straight to win a thrilling 800m, she professed herself highly satisfied with her weekend’s work. “I’m really pleased,” she said. “If someone had said I would get 6,500 I would have grabbed that with both hands. And looking at my individual scores, some of them are not very special, so to come away with that is great.” After Doha, Vetter took several months for herself away from the sport, trying out new activities including surfing. But as the – then – Olympic year dawned in 2020, she returned to athletics, and travelled to the national training camp in Stellenbosch. So, to keep motivated, I made myself little goals. Little training or monthly goals, so that I could see progress. That helped me a lot.Just to focus on those goals and technical points. And then you see the results.”