British athletics star Katarina Johnson-Thompson has said she will 'take some time to process and heal' after she withdrew from the women's heptathlon with a calf injury.
'I don't know where to begin in trying to explain how I feel. Only a handful of people understand how I feel.' she wrote in a statement posted to Twitter.
'More than ever I am proud that I showed up, put myself out there and tried. It would have been very easy to shy away & pull out, to say I wasn't ready and blame the injury but I'm not that type of athlete or person,' she added.
'I've been knocked so many times and got back up, but it will take a lot of time for me to process this reality.'
The world champion pulled up towards the end of the 200m race. She refused medical help and was able to slowly jog over the finish line, visibly grimacing as she did so. But despite managing to finish, she was later disqualified for leaving her lane.
She started off the competition well, coming first in her 110m hurdles heat, before a third-place finish in the high jump and a slip to sixth in the shot put. She will now not compete in the javelin, long jump and 800m events that complete the heptathlon tomorrow.
Johnson-Thompson suffered an Achilles injury late last year, but a UK Athletics spokesperson said this latest injury was separate to that issue.
The governing body said: ‘Unfortunately Katarina Johnson-Thompson sustained an injury to her right calf during the 200m and has had to withdraw from the heptathlon.
‘To confirm, it is not a repeat of her recent Achilles injury which was on her left leg. There will be no further comment this evening.’
Denise Lewis, who won gold in the combined events contest at the Sydney Olympics in 2000, said she was ‘devastated’ for the event’s number one ranked athlete. ‘She has been so courageous battling through her injury to give herself the opportunity to get on the start line today,’ she wrote on Twitter. ‘Sport can be so cruel.’
The news is another blow for the UK’s top athletics talent, after Adam Gemili and Dina Asher-Smith both had their Olympic hopes ruined by injury. In an emotional post-match interview, Asher-Smith described her anguish at having to pull out of the women’s 200m, the discipline in which she is the reigning world champion.
Although Team GB have achieved an impressive medal haul in other areas, so far Keely Hodgkinson is the only British runner to win a medal, with silver in the women’s 800m.
