Katarina Johnson-Thompson left BBC presenter 'feeling sick' watching heptathlon event at Paris Olympics
Katarina Johnson-Thompson struggled with her first two jumps
REUTERS
BBC presenter JJ Chalmers was left feeling 'sick' watching Katarina Johnson-Thompson in what proved to be a nervy long jump event for the British athlete.
The 31-year-old enjoyed an incredible day one of the heptathlon on Thursday with season-best results in the 100m hurdles and high jump before a personal best in the shot put.
A steady performance in the 200m left Johnson-Thompson sitting on top spot through four events heading into Friday.
The long jump is usually a strong event for the reigning world champion, but got off to the worst possible start with a jump of just 4.65m.
Katarina Johnson-Thompson struggled with her first two jumps
REUTERS
She improved on her second to a more respectable 6.04m jump, but it was still some way off her average.
It left Johnson-Thompson with just one jump left to get back on track, creating tension in the BBC studio.
Invictus Games medallist and former Royal Marine Chalmers didn't enjoy watching the event unfold.
"I was sick watching that," he said.
"Especially with that no jump to begin with because you just feel that opportunity to really lay something down has slipped away.
"Now the pressure's on for it on the second one."
Johnson-Thompson eventually managed to land a strong jump of 6.40m with her third and final attempt.
It was just 1cm behind rival Nafissatou Thiam with only 45 points separating the two gold-medal favourites.
Katarina Johnson-Thompson left her best until last
REUTERS
Chalmers asked Denise Lewis how competitors are able to find that ability to fight back like Johnson-Thompson did after her start to the long jump event.
She replied: "It's mental toughness.
"It's what defines champions, whether you can make those mental adjustments, lose the negative emotions and feelings that you would have had and move into a positive head space in order for you to focus on the one thing that you need to get right."
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JJ Chalmers felt uncomfortable watching the long jump
BBC
The penultimate heptathlon event is the javelin, a discipline which Johnson-Thompson has been unable to match Thiam in throughout her career.
Her personal best throw of 46.14m is 8m behind what Thiam managed at the Tokyo Olympics three years ago.
It means that Johnson-Thompson will likely relinquish her lead at the top of the leaderboard before the final event in the 800m.
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