Katarina Johnson-Thompson’s net worth and private life – famous boyfriend and ‘emotions’ battle

Katarina Johnson-Thompson is aiming for a third heptathlon world title at the championships in Tokyo, hoping to defend the golds she won in Budapest two years ago

Katarina Johnson-Thompson is set to compete for her third world title at the World Championships in Tokyo. She first burst onto the scene as a teenager at the London 2012 Olympics, where she watched fellow Team GB star Jessica Ennis-Hill clinch gold in the heptathlon.

Fast forward 11 years, and the British athletics icon herself bagged a second world title in the event, clocking a personal best in the 800m. Despite facing setbacks at Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020, Johnson-Thompson finally secured an elusive silver medal at the 2024 Paris Olympics.

Now, the Team GB legend has her sights set on going one step further. As British fans gear up to root for the icon once again, Mirror Sport takes a closer look at Johnson-Thompson’s days off the track, from her love life to mental struggles and post-athletics plans.

Athlete boyfriend and net worth

Johnson-Thompson has been romantically involved with fellow athlete Andrew Pozzi since 2018. The British hurdler, who originally hails from Stratford-Upon-Avon, hung up his spikes last year at the ripe age of 32.

While Pozzi resides in Cardiff, Johnson-Thompson still live in Loughborough. But despite that considerable distance between the pair, their relationship remains solid, and they occasionally give fans a sneak peek into their romance via social media.

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Johnson-Thompson recently shared a series of snaps on Instagram to celebrate her partner’s birthday, captioning the post: “Happy birthday poz.” Andrew was also by her side when she received her MBE, with the pair posing for photos at Windsor Castle.

After KJT clinched silver at the Paris Olympics, Pozzi shared a heartfelt message on his Instagram. He wrote: “The most incredible 2 days supporting the most incredible person @johnsonthompson Olympic Silver Medalist.

“I’m so glad you’ve finally had the Olympic moment that you fought so hard for and deserved for so long. Through every difficulty and challenge always came something greater and from the first step until the last, this performance demonstrated decades of unrivalled grit, determination and desire.”

As of last summer, the star heptathlete reportedly had a net worth of £3.3million. In 2022, she was ranked as the fourth wealthiest British sportswoman under 30, according to the Heat Rich list.

A significant portion of her net worth has been bolstered by her partnership with Nike. Johnson-Thompson has also endorsed other major brands including Estee Lauder, EA, Müller and British Gas over the years.

Heartbreaking loss

Johnson-Thompson has revealed in past interviews that her athletics path was anything but smooth and that controlling her feelings has been tough at various points. The death of her father, Ricardo, alongside a knee problem in 2015 signalled the start of an incredibly hard chapter for the young star.

Her dad died in 2017 in the Bahamas, where he had lived apart from his daughter since she was a one-year-old. Nevertheless, the duo maintained a strong bond, and the heptathlete confessed it had been a “difficult” period for her and her loved ones.

At the Rio Olympics in 2016, she fought through a ruptured quadriceps muscle to secure fourth at the halfway point of the heptathlon. She amazed spectators with a national record 1.98m leap in the high jump but performed poorly in the shot put and dropped back to eventually place sixth.

“In my head, I wasn’t confident at all,” she said about that disappointment. “I didn’t want to train. I didn’t want to compete in case I got injured. My head was a mess and I didn’t have time to grow and mature, to develop.”

In a 2019 interview with The Guardian, Johnson-Thompson confessed to struggling with managing her emotions early in her career, particularly during televised moments such as the high jump at the World Championships in London, 2017. She noted how Ennis-Hill would “smile for two seconds” after achieving a personal best and then “will be straight back to the event” as she added: “I don’t know how you can do that.”

Fast forward a few years, and the Merseyside athlete seemed perfectly poised for a comeback at Tokyo 2020. She moved to Montpellier in southern France to train under esteemed multi-discipline coach Bertrand Valcin, and the daring move appeared to pay off when she clinched World Championships gold in Doha.

However, disaster struck again when she suffered a ruptured Achilles in December 2020, starting the Olympic year in a wheelchair. After sustaining a calf injury in the 200 metres, Johnson-Thompson was carried off the Tokyo track by medics, resulting in yet another heart-wrenching scene.

Retirement plans

Despite the numerous gold medals throughout her career, Johnson-Thompson once again referred to her challenging journey in an interview with Variety last year. She quashed rumours that Paris would be her final Olympics, however, and said: “Now I’m feeling like I’m at my best because of all the experiences that I’ve had. I feel like I can go on.”

Despite her active career, Johnson-Thompson has pondered over her retirement plans. She has even hinted at the possibility of opening a karaoke bar or a book and coffee shop in Liverpool.

The Team GB star also expressed her desire to take a year off post her professional career: “My life, for as long as I can remember, has been train, schedule, peak condition. I want to have a long time when I’m just doing my own thing.”