The life of Katarina Johnson-Thompson, including her famous partner and her friendship with Jodie Comer

Heptathlon heroine Katarina Johnson-Thompson is not only successful on the track with a number of titles and Olympic appearances, her life off the field is just as eventful. At the 2024 Paris Games, the star finally won her first Olympic heptathlon medal, taking home the silver medal.

The 31-year-old sporting legend is in the middle of her fourth Olympic race and already has two world titles to her name. However, her road to Olympic medals has not been easy and has brought with it a few surprises. From her 14th place in London, which was overshadowed by Jessica Ennis-Hill's victory, to a sixth place in Rio, to a painful calf injury in Tokyo that shattered her dreams.

But KJT is convinced that her happiness does not depend on the elusive gold and freely admits: “I don't think I have to win this medal to be happy.”

In her personal life, Katarina's boyfriend Andrew Pozzi steals the show. He is famous for his hurdling skills. The Stratford-upon-Avon native began his career at a young age with the Stratford Athletics Club and set records as a junior when he set a record in the hurdles at the Bauhaus Junior Gala in Mannheim, Germany with a stunning time of 13.29 seconds – a record performance for a British junior, reports the Mirror.

Andrew secured the 'A' qualifying standard for the 2012 London Olympics, but suffered a cruel twist of fate when a thigh injury forced him to retire in the first run. But that was not all: he also narrowly missed the podium at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, finishing seventh in the final.

The sports duo have been a couple since 2018 and have decided to keep separate households.

In a candid conversation in 2019 about her long-distance love life, Katarina revealed: “When you live far away and have family, friends, loved ones or relationships in other countries, it requires a higher level of organization. One of the advantages of our work is that we end up taking part in many of the same competitions and are in the same place for several days.”

Although they don’t live together, she shared how they keep the spark alive from afar. “My boyfriend [British hurdler Andrew Pozzi] lives in Cardiff but I live in Loughborough, so we start a show together and watch it at the same time,” Katarina told the Guardian this year.

They watched the hit BBC One series The Traitors together, although Katarina jokes: “We watched Traitors. I don't think I'd be a good traitor. I can't lie even if I wasn't alive.”

Katarina is not only outstanding on the track, she also has a first-class team off it. She is close friends with Killing Eve star Jodie Comer. Both are from Liverpool and met while studying at the Catholic girls' school St. Julie.

Their friendship has been very strong ever since. Katarina has been impressed by her friend's achievements and gushed to the Athletic: “She is an incredible actress and friend. It's so phenomenal to see her push boundaries and do things that are close to her heart and do it in such a phenomenal way for the whole world to see.”

“I've witnessed this my whole life and I'm just so happy that the world is finally recognizing our genius. It makes me really proud and inspires me to be a better athlete.”

When Katarina took home the gold medal at the World Athletics Championships in Doha, her friend Jodie immediately celebrated her victory.

In a heartfelt social media post, Jodie gushed about her friend's achievement: “You are now a world champion!!!!! ! ! ! ! ! We couldn't be prouder of you @johnsonthompson. Your hard work and dedication knows no bounds. Enjoy it all. You are the best… it's actually official. (Always has been)! X”.