Katarina Johnson-Thompson looks good in gold as Great Britain heptathlon hope counts down to Rio 2016 Olympics

 

With just 197 days to go until the Rio Oympics, Katarina Johnson-Thompson has gold in her sights. More photos after the cut...

The British heptathlon star has been revealed as the face of paint company Dulux's Colour of the Year for 2016.

Fittingly, the Liverpool native has lent her image to their 'Cherished Gold' release ahead of her Olympics adventure in August.

 

Johnson-Thompson will not be lacking motivation in Rio following her disappointing display at last summer's World Championships in Beijing. 

The 23-year-old looked on course to challenge Jessica Ennis-Hill for the gold medal in the heptathlon, before three fouls in her favoured long jump saw her fall out of contention.

Johnson-Thompson had been expected to wrestle the lead away from Ennis-Hill given her strength in the event.

Two red flags left the heptathlete needing a clean final jump and it looked like she had managed it, landing a distance that would have been the biggest of the discipline. 

However, officials deemed Johnson-Thompson to have left the slightest imprint on the plasticine and, after several minutes of discussions and despite her remonstrations, ruled it an illegal effort.

It left her visibly shell-shocked, seeing her go from second overall to completely out of contention after failing to add a point.

Johnson-Thompson was forced to finish the competition in order to compete in the individual long jump competition. She later described her jog round the 800m as a 'walk of shame'.

Ennis-Hill went on to claim gold in Beijing with a winning score of 6669 to add to her gold triumph in London at London 2012. 

Certainly, Johnson-Thompson will be looking to make up for lost time in RIo.