On a glorious spring day, in front of a capacity crowd at the Paula Radcliffe Stadium, the current World Champion cleared 1.86m to take gold ahead of Thea Brown in silver (1.83m) and Halle Ferguson in bronze (1.75m).
Johnson-Thompson’s jump will undoubtedly give the 31-year-old a welcome boost ahead of the world’s biggest sporting stage in France’s capital later this summer.
Billed as the ‘Battle of the Nations’, Loughborough athletes took on competitors representing England, Wales, Scotland, GB&NI Under-20s and the National Athletics League for the annual competition.
Loughborough sports scholar and Tokyo Paralympic champion Ntando Mahlangu wowed spectators by storming to victory in the men’s para 400m with a personal best of 52.42 seconds. The South Africa international beat John Bridge (Wales – 53.64) and Cameron Thores (Scotland – 53.81) to take the title for the home side.
Current British Universities and Colleges Sport (BUCS) outdoor champion Poppy Malik also won an impressive gold for Loughborough in the women’s 400m, crossing the line in 53:41 ahead of England’s Hannah Kelly (54.05), and Wales’ Tess McHugh (54.26).
GB&NI Under-20s successfully navigated slight headwinds to take a clean sweep in the 4x100m relays, winning both the men’s (39.76) and the women’s (44.59) disciplines at a canter.
17-year-old Mabel Akande turned heads in the women’s 100m to win in a personal best 11.52, ahead of Scotland’s Alyson Bell (11.62), and Rachel Bennett (invitational), also in 11.62.
England’s Sophie Hahn found the kind of form that won her gold at both the 2016 and 2020 Paralympics as she cruised to victory in the women’s para 100m in a season’s best 12.90, ahead of GB’s Maddie Down (13.20), and Lana Sutton (invitational – 13.38).
Image caption: GB sprinters in action. Image provided by Peter Simmons.
Elsewhere, shot putter and European under-23 medallist Serena Vincent (England) produced a terrific performance, adding 56cm to her personal best with a throw of 17.78m. Wales’ Adelé Nicoll also recorded a throw to be proud of by hitting a season’s best 17.28m.
There was a welcome return for fit-again Taylor Campbell who competed for the first time in almost three years to throw an encouraging 69.75m in the men’s hammer.
Loughborough’s Bekah Walton, coached by Dave Turner, showed consistency once again to win the women’s javelin in another strong distance of 59.26m.
Image caption: Adelé Nicoll in action for Wales. Image provided by Still Sport Photography.
To cap an exhilarating day of first-class athletics, England included Johnson-Thompson in the 4x400m women’s final to ultimately edge out Loughborough and win in 3:34.65.
In the men’s event, there was also a win for England in 3:09.21, ahead of GB in 3:11.14, with an invitational team taking third in 3:11.89.
Image caption: Loughborough's 4x400m women's relay team. Image provided by Peter Simmons.
Final overall team scores:
England: 191 points
Loughborough: 159 points
GB: 152.5 points
National Athletics League: 136 points
Wales: 104.5 points
Scotland: 99 points
For the full list of results from Loughborough International 2024, visit rosterathletics.com and search for the event. For more information on athletics at Loughborough, visit: https://www.lboro.ac.uk/sport/sports/athletics/