Athletics-Heptathlete Johnson-Thompson captures Britain's second gold

Katarina Johnson-Thompson clinched gold in the heptathlon with the year's best performance after holding off the challenge of defending champion Nafissatou Thiam on Thursday to give Britain their second title at this year's world championships.

Having taken the lead on the first day of competition, Johnson-Thompson extended her advantage with a long jump of 6.77 meters - the best ever recorded in a women's heptathlon - to take a 216-point lead over Belgium's Thiam. Thiam, who was on a three-year winning streak in the event, had briefly reclaimed the lead on the first day after the shot put but was dislodged from top spot when Johnson-Thompson ran a season's best 23.08 seconds in the 200 metres.

After a personal best javelin throw of 43.93 metres, Johnson-Thompson entered the final event, the 800m, with a 137-point lead over Thiam. She secured gold with a run of 2 minutes 07.26 seconds, lifting her points tally to a world leading 6,981 and breaking the British record set by Jessica Ennis-Hill when she won gold at the 2012 London Olympics.

Thiam, who walked away from her third attempt in the javelin, finished the 800m in 2:18.93, finishing 304 points behind Johnson-Thompson. Verena Preiner of Austria took bronze with 6,560 points.

Dina Asher-Smith won the 200 metres on Wednesday to become the first British woman to claim a global sprint title.