The Olympic heptathlete will receive the Sportswoman award at the Harper's Bazaar Women of the Year Awards 2024 on Tuesday (05.11.24) and has now realised that most competitors will face hardships in the spotlight following her initial fears.

Katarina told Harper's Bazaar magazine: "I used to find it scary, but then you realise that everyone's making mistakes, so it's fine to be a role model who gets things wrong and comes out the other side.

"I want people to see me not as someone who something tragic happened to but as someone who got over something tragic."

Johnson-Thompson won Olympic silver in Paris this summer – the first time she has finished on the podium at the Games in four attempts – and thinks that the "enormous" pressure on competitors at the event makes winning a medal such a special achievement.

The Team GB star said: "The pressure is enormous, so I think it isn't about who is the best. It's about who can handle the intensity. And that's why any colour of an Olympic medal is an incredible achievement."

Katarina has suffered injury problems at crucial times during her career, most notably when she had a torn calf at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, but she thinks that the unfortunate incidents have happened for a reason.

She said: "I'm obsessed with the idea of random events suddenly changing the course of your life. It makes you think, 'What's the point if a freak accident can happen twice, even when you've done everything right?' But is also makes you realise there are things you can't predict – anything that can happen. That's sort of freeing."

Read the full interview in the December/January issue of Harper's Bazaar, on sale from 6 November, via https://www.harpersbazaar.com/uk/katarinajohnsonthompson