With confidence growing and a smile becoming an increasingly regular presence, Katarina Johnson-Thompson believes the good times are back – and she intends to prove it by winning a world medal next month. The former world heptathlon champion has endured frequent misery in recent years since when winning a first global title in 2019. The pandemic robbed her of the chance of a quick follow-up at the Olympics before she sustained a serious achilles rupture at the end of 2020. Johnson-Thompson then failed to finish at the delayed Tokyo Games and aborted a new life in the US after just five months. Now settled back in Britain, the 30-year-old showed the fruits of her labours when leaping to a confidence-boosting best of 6.60m in the long jump at the London Stadium’s Diamond League meeting on Sunday. Next up are the world championships in Budapest, where Johnson-Thompson hopes to make the podium ahead of an assault on gold at the Paris Olympics. “I’d just like to win a medal [in Budapest],” she said. “A medal is …

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