- Rigorous Training and Mental Games
- Aston Moore’s Coaching Strategy
- Katarina Johnson-Thompson’s Comeback Journey
The coach of world-class heptathlete Katarina Johnson-Thompson has revealed the brutal training sessions – and mental games – that occasionally made her sick but transformed her back into a world champion.
After suffering severe Achilles tendon and calf injuries in 2020 and 2021, most people had written off the 2019 world champion, while JohnsonThompson feared she was doomed to decline into irrelevance after lagging far behind in 2018. Aston Moore, a 67-year-old veteran, had alternative plans.
Moore, who coached world champions Phillips Idowu and Ashia Hansen, swiftly determined that the 30-year-old was insufficiently fit when he began training her a year ago. A sequence of weekly 800-meter training sessions in Loughborough proved decisive in Budapest.
Moore stated, “It was reasonably obvious what was wrong.” “Essentially, we had an athlete whose fuel tank was empty. I believed she would be able to return as soon as we were able to place some of that back in there through hard work.”
Johnson Thompson needed to finish the 800m within three seconds of American sensation Anna Hall to win gold.
Even though Hall’s personal best was nearly five seconds faster, Moore was not overly concerned.
“We did a great deal of preparatory work. A Wednesday at Loughborough was always a day of apprehension because the 800-metre race requires a great deal of effort on the track. She did this throughout the winter, up until about two weeks ago, so there was no threat of her dying. It was simply a matter of perseverance, which she did.”
Monday evening, after only one hour of sleep, JohnsonThompson stated that the training sessions occasionally caused her to vomit on the track, but also made her battle-hardened.
“Those 800 sessions hurt,” she expressed. “I believe that the majority of my training is technical, but in the 800m, you must physically press through the pain barrier.
“I’m more of an anaerobic individual. Therefore, I enjoy running quickly and then having a great deal of leisure. However, your vulnerabilities are something you must address. It consisted of a great deal of aerobic exercises with brief periods of respite between sets.
It proved decisive as Johnson-Thompson obliterated her personal best by two seconds to finish in 2min 05sec, just a half-second behind Hall. “We were ready for that battle,” she stated. “I did not believe that I could run that fast. I will not tell an untruth. But I detest the sensation of being unprepared for battle.”
Johnson-Thompson also praised Moore’s psychological work in calming her anxieties.
She stated, “He has resolved these issues in terms of fears, and he will simply eliminate these worries.” “I have no idea what it is. Only experience and a level mind.”
Moore, who won two bronze medals in the triple leap at the Commonwealth Games in 1978 and 1982, stated that decades of experience were indispensable. “Coaching is always a little bit of psychology,” he explained. “Athletes sometimes mistrust themselves. However, you must periodically remind yourself that these are the results you are achieving in training and that it is possible to return.
“It has been a challenging journey for her. Few athletes return from an Achilles rupture to win the world championship, and many people undoubtedly believed it was impossible. She has disproved them.”
Johnson-Thompson is confident that she can score even higher at the 2024 Olympics in Paris, despite admitting that she does not have the same spring in her legs that allowed her to clear 1.98m in the high jump at the 2016 Olympics in Rio. “Never say never,” she says, adding, “I would like to return to the 1.90s and 6.80s in the long jump.”
Moore believes there is no reason why Johnson Thompson cannot replicate her success in Paris, even if it means confronting Nafi Thiam, the double Olympic champion who missed the Budapest competition due to injury.
“Kat has returned to the location where she is searching for something,” Moore explains. “She is not an observer. The previous year, she was in a terrible position where she could only watch others win medals. This time, she was actively in search of one. That alters your mental state.”
