Katarina Johnson-Thompson (Ultimate Sports Heroes) by Melanie Hamm

Author:Melanie Hamm
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Templar

CHAPTER 12

PRESSURE

‘Ta-da!’ With a flourish, Tracey unfurled her masterpiece. ‘What do you think, Kat?’

Kat let out a peal of surprised laughter. ‘A banner! It’s brilliant, Mum!’

Tracey smiled. ‘Eye-catching, isn’t it?’

Several metres in length, with huge letters spelling out Kat’s double-barrelled name, the banner was going to be unmissable.

‘Wow, my name really is a mouthful, isn’t it? This is so thoughtful, Mum, thank you.’

‘It’s your first Commonwealth Games,’ Tracey smiled. ‘We had to do something special!’

Kat visualised herself in the arena, catching sight of the humongous banner. She grinned. ‘I love it. And I’m glad you’re all coming to watch.’

This time, the whole extended family would be there in the stadium. Tracey had hired a minibus to take everyone to Glasgow where they would stay for a week and soak up the atmosphere of the Games, as well as being there to cheer Kat on in her seven events.

‘We wouldn’t miss it for the world,’ said Tracey. ‘Your nan’s so excited.’

***

With a little over a week to go before the Games, Kat’s final training was going perfectly to plan. Kat was working hard and Mike was full of encouragement. He knew, now Kat had tasted gold at Götzis, that she was hungry to be on the podium again. Mike, like everyone else, was optimistic that this would be Kat’s competition.

Just a few days before the event, Kat was at Wavertree as usual. Mike was surprised to hear Kat calling out to him from a bench at the side of the training hall.

‘I–I can’t feel my foot. I think it’s cramp.’

Mike ran over. Kat’s left foot, her take-off foot, was badly swollen. Her face was full of anxiety. ‘I can’t put weight on it. Look, I can’t even get my trainer on.’

Mike frowned. So close to a major competition, an injury like this was very bad news. ‘We won’t do any more training today,’ he said. ‘Go home and let me know how it feels in the morning.’

He helped Kat to hobble outside and into a taxi. ‘Hopefully it’ll be back to normal in a few hours,’ he told her.

Kat braved a smile. ‘It’s already feeling a bit better. Fingers crossed.’

The pain soon went away and Kat went to bed relieved. But the next morning, the discomfort returned. Kat rang Mike and they went straight to the physio, who recommended a scan.

Once the scan came back, the answer was clear.

‘It’s a stress-fracture,’ the physio reported. ‘Tiny – but that’s where the pain is coming from. It’ll only get worse if you jump on it before it’s healed. You could do long-term damage.’

Kat looked at Mike. He shook his head. ‘There isn’t enough time. Not for the Commonwealths.’

Kat let out a sob of dismay. Her first Commonwealth Games. She wanted desperately to compete in front of a home crowd. How disappointed her family would be! And Tracey’s banner – it would go to waste! Tears trickled down Kat’s cheeks. ‘I can’t believe I’m going to miss out,’ she whispered. ‘It’s not fair.’

‘We’ll focus on the Europeans,’ said Mike.

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