As Johnson-Thompson crouched on the track, eyes fixed on the big screen which seemed to take an age to display the full results, she wore a look of acceptance – aware she had not quite been able to produce the sensational finish required for gold.
But when Thiam’s sixth-place finish flashed up, confirming the 29-year-old had done enough, it did not take long for Johnson-Thompson’s expression to change.
A beaming smile spread as a lifelong dream at last came true, Johnson-Thompson donning a silver tiara and waving her nation’s flag proudly above her head.
She had gritted her teeth through the final metres of the race, the lactic building with every stride, years of hurt channelled into every stride.
The gap would grow – just not enough.
Johnson-Thompson was always going to finish ahead of Thiam, but the margin required for victory seemed unlikely against a competitor of her opponent’s stature and experience.
Thiam became the youngest Olympic heptathlon gold medallist in history with her first triumph aged 21 and has now won 10 of the 11 international titles she has contested since that breakout triumph.
The one exception? Silver as Johnson-Thompson won the 2019 world title.
Johnson-Thompson has had to overcome a career-threatening Achilles rupture and a devastating mid-competition injury at the Tokyo Olympics, but in Thiam’s absence she returned to the top of the world last year to complete a remarkable turnaround in her career.
Fit and firing once again in Paris, she pushed Thiam all the way to have a chance of gold, and Olympic silver after world gold represents a fitting reward for her perseverance.
