Heptathlon world champion Johnson-Thompson can win gold at Tokyo Olympics despite injury: British sprinter Adam Gemili

Katarina Johnson-Thompson, Great Britain's big medal hope at the Tokyo Olympics, has a realistic chance of winning gold despite suffering a serious injury, fellow Team GB athlete Adam Gemili said.

Her Olympic preparations suffered a blow after she sustained a severe achilles tendon injury during training late last year. The world champion was forced to spend weeks in a boot to relieve pain and inflammation and returned to training much later than expected.

However, World Championships gold medalist Gemili feels Johnson-Thompson still has the ability to win gold at the Tokyo Olympics.

“She’s in a good place and ready to go and defend her world title at the Olympics. Hopefully she can win Olympic gold. I think she’s more than capable of doing that," Gemili told The Guardian.

'Johnson-Thompson can win gold at Tokyo Olympics'

Johnson-Thompson clinched the world title in Doha after outpowering Rio Olympics champion Nafi Thiam to become a big contender for the gold at Tokyo. She had finished a lowly 14th at the 2012 London Olympics and came sixth in Rio four years later.

Gemili said he believed that Johnson-Thompson can give tough competition to the best in the world at the Tokyo Olympics and he is looking forward to the fierce rivalry between her and Thiam again this year.

“She’s one of the best talents we’ve ever had in the UK and she believes it. She knows that if she puts it together on the day, there’s no one that can really touch her. Her and Nafi Thiam, obviously the head to head is going to be fantastic. I speak to Kat every now and again and she’s good," he added.

Gemili, who is battling injuries of his own, is confident of being in top shape for the upcoming UK athletic trials in June in the build-up to the Tokyo Olympics. He was not at his usual best as he clocked 21:18s to finish sixth behind Kenny Bednarek of America in the opening Diamond League meeting at Gateshead. However, he maintains that he still has time to fine-tune his preparations post recovery.

“I had quite a big injury, so I couldn’t really do any running between February and March. That’s why my season was a bit delayed. What’s important is being healthy, making the GB team at trials, and then when the Olympics comes around, I’ll be ready," Gemili said.

He will return to action on Friday alongside fellow Britons Holly Bradshaw in the pole vault and Daniel Rowden, Jamie Webb and Keely Hodgkinson in the men’s and women’s 800m races.