Katarina Johnson-Thompson’s heptathlon gold medal quest suffers a HUGE blow as Olympic rival Nafi Thiam takes overall lead in the javelin – giving the Team GB star a mountain to climb in 800m race

Katarina Johnson-Thompson saw her quest for heptathlon Olympic gold suffer a huge blow as Belgium’s Nafi Thiam took the overall event lead after producing a stunning opening throw in the javelin.

The Team GB star was atop of the heptathlon standings heading into day two of the event after winning the 200m race in front of a raucous crowd at the Stade de France on Thursday.

She then further solidified her lead during the javelin with a season-best throw of 45.49m on her third attempt that established a strong gap at the top of the standings.

However, a nervous wait for Thiam to throw quickly turned into a disaster for Johnson-Thompson when her Belgian rival produced a monster 54.04m opening effort.

Liverpool-born Johnson-Thompson now faces the prospect of needing to make up a huge eight second time deficit in the evening’s 800m race. 

Belgium’s double-Olympic champion Nafi Thiam took the overall lead in the heptathlon during the javelin

Katarina Johnson-Thompson’s quest for Olympic gold suffered a huge blow in the javelin

Johnson-Thompson maintained the steely focused look as she refused to break a smile

Friday had initially got off to the perfect start with Johnson-Thompson winning the long jump and starting with a strong opening javelin throw of 44.64m which was the highest amongst competitors following first attempts. 

Her second effort produced a rare error from the 31-year-old as officials showed a red flag for stepping over the throwing line before she corrected with a huge third attempt.

But, the javelin is one of the strongest disciplines for double-Olympic champion Thiam who immediately produced a season-best throw of her own with a first throw of 54.04m that was over eight metres clear of Katarina Johnson-Thompson’s best effort.

Thiam produced a huge opening throw of 54.04 in the javelin to take the overall lead

The massive throw moved the Belgian star onto 939 points, overtaking her Team GB rival who remained on 818 points following her three respectable attempts.

Thiam’s second effort was similarly shown a red flag, but it made little difference to her overall control in the heptathlon as Johnson-Thompson watched on.

She then threw a 52.56m effort on her final attempt that gives her an overall lead of 121 points in the heptathlon heading into the evening’s 800m race.

Johnson-Thompson is favourite for the track event and will need to produce the run of her lie to overhaul the reigning Olympic champion.