Top 55 Katarina Johnson-Thompson Quotes

I always have a book that I write during competition. I need it with me, just to read back and reflect and look forward. If I’m feeling anxious, it helps me.

I was watching ‘Deal or No Deal’ on YouTube recently, and I bawled when the contestant won £250,000. I think I just like watching people achieve their dreams.

I should have a better CV, and that’s knocked me into believing that I have to grab these opportunities while I can.

I’ve always believed in myself, and it’s such a long competition over two days, you can’t worry about what anyone else is doing.

For a long time, I thought it was all down to dedication, hard work, and visualising doing well – that worked for a bit, but then it stopped. I’ve realised you have to be more practical and mature to make things actually happen.

In boxing, it’s one fight, so it’s easier to build up rivalries, but everyone’s got huge respect for each other.

It’s a huge step up from the European Indoors to then being a gold medallist at the World Championships.

I always said I wanted an Olympic medal. It’s the pinnacle of any athlete’s career.

I can’t change my personality. I’ll always smile, but I’ll be more focused.

It’s a huge step up from the European Indoor Championships to being world outdoor gold medallist.

I’m very wholehearted. I want to concentrate on one thing in my life at one time.

I want people to tell me the truth.

There will be mental worries with the long jump before Rio, but I know I can get through it. It’s just getting my confidence back. I know I have a big jump in me.

It’s very easy to run a good 200 m. after an appalling shot put.

It was just me and my mum growing up, and my mum’s always said that’s why I’m so mature. We were best friends, and if it wasn’t for her, I wouldn’t even have started athletics, because she wanted me to have a hobby.

When it comes to peaking at the right time, I have to thank my coach Mike Holmes: he is a genius.

An example of my average week would be the gym on Monday; Tuesday will be a technical session. I practice running and high jump on Thursday and then have another technical session at the weekend.

There’s a big debate whether pentathlon or heptathlon is harder: five events in one day or seven in two.

Record-breaking is not getting boring. I am definitely happy with that.

I have seven disciplines to train for, and so I try to complete them all every week.

We are all trying to achieve our dreams.

I want to lay all my cards out on the table and walk away with no regrets.

That people believe I can be Olympic champ, it just spurs me on.

I’m going to trust my instincts when something’s wrong.

Every international meeting or championship I do, I can cope a lot better because I can say I did the 100 m. hurdles, opened up the athletics at an Olympic Games in front of a home crowd, 80,000 people.

I was one of those girls in class who always had her hair in plaits, was always with the boys, always playing football in the street.

If I can put it together, I’ve got an opportunity to win.

I can’t be disappointed with my first gold in a senior championship, and to score 5000 points, which only one other woman, the world record holder, has got over, I am satisfied.

My mum was a dancer. She would tour the world with a group, and she had me in a dance class when I was still in a nappy. They told her to come back when I could walk.

Beijing was a huge slap in the face, and it forced me to look at myself. I have to realise that this is my life.

If you saw pictures of me as a kid, you’d laugh because I was always in football kit.

I’ve got so many big gains to make in the javelin and the shot put. I know I’m not going to be winning the field in those events, but I need to do myself justice.

I live with my mum and my nan. I think I will leave eventually, but not at the moment when they look after me so well. If you came to my house, they’d make you eat something.

I don’t do athletics for any other reason than achieving certain distances, certain titles and goals in my head.

I used to play football with a load of lads, and I would be like a secret agent going out with a hat on so they wouldn’t see my hair in a bun.

I used to keep injuries to myself. It would just make it worse and worse. Now I’m having none of that.

The heptathlon is made up of seven events, and people have strengths and weaknesses.

Very few athletes get to experience a home Games, and I don’t want to pass up the chance.

When there was a fight in school, because I was the tall one, the teachers would say, ‘I know you were there. I could see you.’

I’ve always followed this page on Instagram called the Sausage Dog Hotel.

In 2012, I was over the moon to be there, especially as it was our home Olympics. It was a once-in-a-lifetime experience, and I just wanted to take everything in.

I feel like, when I’m 100% healthy, I can do anything.

I’ve always looked at 2016, but 2020 is realistic for me. I’ll be 23 in 2016, but if I keep on progressing, hopefully 2016 will be a medal chance as well for me.

You can exercise anytime, anywhere. It doesn’t have to be the gym.

You don’t not want to beat somebody because you’re friends with them.

You don’t have to be a bodybuilder to have strength in your muscles.

It’s getting harder as I get more known. Even though it’s my break, I couldn’t really go out and get drunk – because people expect you to be training and getting up early. But I’m not bothered about missing out on normal teenage things.

You can only train three or four hours a day, so what do you do with the other 20 hours?

Competing in London would be a dream come true.

I am going to Rio with a chance of a medal.

Maybe I’m the kind of athlete who absorbs the atmosphere instead of trying to block it out.

Getting rid of all the world records would be a bit of a radical move.

I got very addicted to performing. I just want to do that more.

Obviously, when you’re up against somebody you don’t like there’s extra motivation, but I don’t think any person going for an Olympic gold is going to put friendship first.

I just need to concentrate on each event and accumulate a good score, and hopefully I won’t flop in the 800 m. in Gotzis.