Katarina Johnson-Thompson cautious over World Indoors gold medal expectations

The 25-year-old is favourite for the pentathlon at the World Indoor Championships with her main rivals absent from the competition

Katarina Johnson-Thompson has insisted victory is not assured (Getty)

Katarina Johnson-Thompson has dismissed suggestions she has a golden chance to end her wait for a global victory.

The 25-year-old is favourite for the pentathlon at the World Indoor Championships, which got under way on Thursday.

World and Olympic champion Nafissatou Thiam is absent, with Carolin Schafer and Anouk Vetter also missing in Birmingham, leaving Johnson-Thomson as the woman to beat on Friday.

But despite the weakened field Johnson-Thompson, who finished a disappointing fifth at last year's World Championships, insisted victory is not assured.

She said: "Just because other athletes aren't here does not make it my best chance. All I can do is compete against who is here.

"I've had better chances in the past but they have just not come off. It's combined events, you never know what is going to happen.

"I can't think about external pressures. I'm going to go event by event."

The last time Johnson-Thompson competed in a pentathlon, at the 2015 European Indoor Championships in Prague, she finished 13 points off Nataliya Dobrynska's world record of 5,013 and landed the gold medal.

But the 2012 and 2016 Olympian is keeping her cool over any potential record bid.


 Katarina Johnson-Thompson finished a disappointing fifth at last year's World Championships (Getty)
 (Getty Images)

She said: "I'm trying not to think about a world record. Like last time, I was there competing and trying to get the best out of myself in every event and that's the same approach I'll take this time as well.

"The long jump is one of my strongest event, Obviously I've won the world medal in Poland a couple of years ago (she won long-jump silver at the 2014 World Indoors). But in the heptathlon and pentathlon, I have been struggling a bit to get it up high standards.

"Both the jumps will be key events for me and hopefully I can just get the most points out of those two and the others will come.

"I've been fortunate enough to compete in so many home championships now. Every time I'm always surprised, you think you know what to expect then it hits you when you go into the stadium.

"The crowd in the UK - I might be biased - but they're always the loudest. So I'm very happy I have this in Birmingham."

PA