Commonwealth Games 2018: Katarina Johnson-Thompson on top after first day of heptathlon

The 25-year-old ran 13.54 seconds in the 100m hurdles before leaping 1.87m in the high jump, 11cm below her personal best, and threw 11.54m in the shot put

Katarina Johnson-Thompson saw out victory in her 200m heat (Getty)

​England’s Katarina Johnson-Thompson ended day one on top in the women’s heptathlon standings but admitted she was disappointed by some of her results.

The 25-year-old ran 13.54 seconds in the 100m hurdles before leaping 1.87m in the high jump, 11cm below her personal best, and threw 11.54m in the shot put – one of her least favourite events.

She put in a dominant display in her 200m heat but was almost a second down on her quickest ever time set two years ago in Gotzis.

Johnson-Thompson said: “I’m OK, I’m happy, I’m in the lead, a bit confused with some of my results but it’s what I should expect in April.

“After Birmingham I was more mentally tired than physically tired so instead of pushing on I had to let my body rest and take it easy.

“I thought I could get away with it but I’ll really have to fight on Friday.

“I thought I could build on Birmingham (her pentathlon title) but it feels like September. I don’t do anything in September except lie on a beach.”

The world indoor pentathlon champion will now head into Friday’s events of the javelin, long jump and 800m on a score of 3765 points. With a 126-point lead to her name, she remains well placed to challenge for gold.


 KJT remains favourite to claim gold on the Gold Coast 
 (Getty)

Kyle Langford won silver in the men's 800m with a personal best time of 1:45.16, narrowly behind Kenya's Wycliffe Kinyamal who won in 1:45.11.

There was silver for Scotland's Eilidh Doyle as well after finishing second in the women's 400m hurdles while England's Shara Proctor picked up bronze in the women's long jump.

Jack Laugher won a second gold medal of the Games and his fourth Commonwealth title overall with victory in the men's three metres springboard.

Laugher scored 519.40 points to take a second of three possible golds here. The 23-year-old Harrogate diver, who successfully defended the 1m title on Wednesday, could now complete a Gold Coast hat-trick on Friday when he will compete with Chris Mears in the men's synchronised 3m springboard final.

There was further joy for Laugher at the end of the evening as his girlfriend Lois Toulson picked up bronze in the women's 10m platform for England.

Kyle Langford came agonisingly close to claiming gold (Getty)

Annie Last and Evie Richards delivered an England 1-2 in the women's cross country mountain bike race with a dominant performance.

The pair pulled clear of the pack of the first of six laps around the Nerang forest and continued to stretch their lead, with Last beating Richards by 48 seconds as Canada's Haley Smith took bronze a further 96 seconds back.

Chris Gregory and Jake Sheaf's bid for a Commonwealth Games medal in the beach volleyball fell short as they lost the bronze medal game to New Zealand brothers Ben and Sam O'Dea 21-13 21-15.

England's women's hockey team suffered penalty shoot-out heartbreak in their semi-final against New Zealand.

Jack Laugher clinched a second gold of the Games (Getty)

After an attritional goalless draw, England missed four of their five penalties and New Zealand captain Stacey Michelsen stepped up to seal victory for her side with the final strike.

Scotland's Kay Moran, Stacey McDougall and Caroline Brown had to settle for silver in the women's triples of the lawn bowls as Australia took gold with a 21-12 victory in the final.

England's Katherine Rednall, Ellen Falkner and Sian Honnor picked up bronze with a 20-12 win over Canada.

Scotland's Seonaid McIntosh took bronze in the women's 50m prone rifle at the Belmont Shooting Centre, scoring 618.1 as Singapore's Martina Veloso took gold with a Games record 621.0.

In wrestling, England's Georgina Nelthorpe took bronze with victory over Kaharatu Kamara of Sierra Leone in the women's freestyle 76kg, while Wales' Curts Dodge beat Ebimienfaghe Assizecourt of Nigeria to bronze in the men's freestlye 74kg.

PA