Pawlett following in footsteps of heptathlon heroes

Abigail Pawlett (centre) is inspired to try to be the next great British heptathlete

Heptathlete Abigail Pawlett says it is her dream to win an Olympic medal after impressing at her first World Athletics Championships.

Pawlett, 22, made her debut in Tokyo in September after an anxious wait to see if she would rank high enough to earn her spot.

She suffered a fall in the hurdles, the first event of the competition, before bouncing back to record a personal best 1.80m in the high jump and winning her 200m heat.

A delayed concussion meant she was forced out of the competition following the long jump on day two.

However, the Welsh athlete believes she showed she can follow in the footsteps of her heptathlon heroes Denise Lewis, Kelly Sotherton, Jessica Ennis-Hill and Katarina Johnson-Thompson.

"It's exciting to think what could be in the future," said Pawlett.

"An Olympic medal is the dream, most athletes would say that."

Bittersweet

Pawlett's distressing opening-event fall thrust her into the spotlight but it was her response that shone a light onto her potential for the future.

The Welsh athlete says she was pleased to "get over the psychological block" of having set a new high jump personal best (PB) for the first time in six years.

"It was bittersweet," said Pawlett. "Disbelief was the first sort of emotion I felt after I fell on the hurdles.

"Jade [O'Dowda] and Kat [Johnson-Thompson] came over to me after the hurdles and sort of cocooned me from the cameras which I really appreciated."

The Chester-born athlete added: "My first worry was my mum and dad are going to be sat around the television watching and I'm not going to be able to text them to say I'm okay.

"Hopefully the high jump showed I'm okay, it was the first time since I was 16 that I've had a personal best in the event."

Despite her frustration at having to pull out of the last two events of the competition, Pawlett says she was pleased to leave Tokyo with something to show for her efforts.

"I'd have flown to Tokyo just for that high jump PB.

"If I hadn't fallen, would I have cleared 1.80m? Would I have had that anger and desire to get something out of it? I don't know.

"At least now I've proven to myself I've done it because taking six years to PB takes a psychological toll.

"I've proved to myself that I'm physically capable and can take that now."

And there was more to encourage the reigning British indoor 60m hurdles champion.

Pawlett's 23.25s in the 200m, the fourth event of the Tokyo competition, was the fastest of any of the 22 athletes in the heptathlon.

"If you'd substituted in a regular hurdles from me this season into that score from day one, even with a sub-par shot put and 200m, I would have been second overnight.

"So even though I didn't actually put that score together, I know that the possibility is there."

While Johnson-Thompson shared a dramatic bronze in Tokyo, there was also a personal best for O'Dowda, who finished eighth.

Pawlett believes competition with her 26-year-old fellow Briton is driving their standards.

"Me and Jade are jumping over each other in the rankings," she said.

"There's a respect there as well, we keep hopscotching each other in the all-time list so I think to have that competition will push us both."

Welsh record holder

Pawlett set the Welsh record as she took European U23 silver in July

Pawlett took silver at the European Athletics U23 Championships in Bergen in July, missing her Loughborough University graduation to compete.

It was a price she was happy to pay as she set the Welsh record in the process.

"I think Bergen was the culmination of a lot of years of hard luck and hard work.

"I missed my world juniors breaking my foot and a lot of my age grade stuff through Covid.

"So injury and the pandemic had hampered my chances for age group medals.

"You never know what would happen but I look back at the world juniors and I'm convinced I would have medalled."

Despite selection for Tokyo, Pawlett rates her Bergen medal as the highlight of 2025 - and an Olympic medal is her clear focus for the future.

"To win the Olympics is the ultimate goal in any sport, especially track and field," said Pawlett.

"I definitely think I'm capable of getting medals in the future. I know what I think I can do and what my coach thinks I can do and we've been in the calculator app.

"We have conversations like 'What do you think you could do by the end of your career?' Those numbers add up to pretty high."

The next British star?

Pawlett was inspired by Jessica Ennis-Hill at London 2012

Since the Atlanta 1996 Olympics where Lewis took home bronze, only at the delayed Tokyo 2020 Olympics has there been a heptathlon podium without a Briton on it.

Lewis followed up her Atlanta bronze with gold at Sydney, while Sotherton earned back-to-back bronze medals in Athens (2004) and Beijing (2008).

Ennis-Hill famously took gold on 'Super Saturday' at London 2012, before a silver at Rio de Janeiro in 2016.

Johnson-Thompson was disqualified in the 200m at Tokyo in 2021 before taking silver at Paris 2024.

There is no doubt of the moment that solidified Pawlett's desire to be a heptathlete.

"My first ever Olympic memory was watching Jess Ennis-Hill in the hurdles at London and trying to emulate her.

"Obviously to win [Olympic gold] is the dream and then to cement myself in that group of British heptathletes.

"To be so close to them now at 22, you look at them and when they did their scores and I've still got a bit of time to go.

"It's exciting to think what could be in the future, I'd love to be up there."