Abi Pawlett . . . Courage and Class From Wales’ top Heptathlete in Tokyo

If there were World Athletics Championships medals for bravery then Abi Pawlett would surely have a place on the podium.

Although she eventually had to withdraw from the heptathlon competition, the Welsh athlete showed remarkable resilience to bounce back from a “horrendous” fall in her first event.

Pawlett literally picked herself up from the floor in the 100m hurdles to soar to a high jump personal best in the space of around an hour in Tokyo on Friday.

The 22-year old made a disastrous start to her World Championships debut as she fell in the final stages of the 100m hurdles – traditionally her highest scoring event.

Running in the third heat, reserved for the fastest hurdlers in the field, the 22-year-old was up against the likes of gold medal favourite Anna Hall of the USA.

Pawlett was third as she approached the final barrier and on course for a big opening points haul, but her trailing left knee clattered into the hurdle sending her crashing to the track at top speed.

The UK indoor 60m hurdles champion’s momentum as she rolled on the track after the fall took her over the line to at least register a time of 14.70.

But with a PB of 12.94, that meant a huge loss of points in what is potentially the multi-eventer’s most profitable event.

Pawlett was in tears as she walked away from the fall which also saw her hit her head as she crashed to the track.

Great Britain team mates Katerina Johnson-Thompson and Jade O’Dowda were seen consoling a visibly shaken Pawlett, who appeared to wave away the concerns of trackside officials.

The European Under-23 silver medallist didn’t have much time to compose herself due to the first day of the heptathlon being more condensed than usual.

With all four first day events being contested within the evening session for the first time, Pawlett was preparing to line up for the start of the high jump within half an hour.

Remarkably, the Welsh heptathlon record holder put her hurdles ordeal behind her by producing a brilliant performance.

Pawlett soared over the bar at 1.80m to shatter her previous personal best by a huge six centimetres.

A solid shot put performance of 13.85m – the longest throw of the three British competitors - followed from the Loughborough University student.

Ahead of the 200m, the final event of the first day, BBC commentator and former Paralympic long jumper Steff Reid said: “One of the things I think we should mention is the performance of Abigail Pawlett. We saw her have that horrendous fall in the hurdles.

“She then came back and set a personal best in the high jump. She was the one who was saying to the medical team ‘no I’m doing this’. She had a pretty good shot put as well.

“But to come back and set a PB in the high jump after the kind of fall that she had, that’s a pretty incredible feat.”

“It was such a hard thing to watch in the opening event, the 100 hurdles,” added co-commentator Andrew Cotter.

Great Britain's Abigail Pawlett hits a hurdle in the 100m hurdles heptathlon heat. Pic. Alamy

The draw for the 200m saw Pawlett line up with reigning World Champion Johnson-Thompson in the lane outside her and champion elect Hall in the lane inside.

But the Trafford AC athlete was undaunted by her illustrious company, leading the field home in the fastest 200m time of the competition – 23.25.

After the race, Cotter added: “It’s admirable what Pawlett has done after the shock - physical and mental - that she will have had and the disappointment in that first event.”

At the end of the first day, Pawlett sat in 14th place overall out of the 23 athletes who started the event – a remarkable achievement after her calamitous start.

Had Pawlett run close to her personal best in the 100m hurdles, she would have been threatening the medal positions going into the second day.

A battered and bruised Pawlett emerged on the second morning with a large dressing on her left thigh and friction burns on her left shoulder.

The effects of her ordeal the previous day appeared to show as she recorded 5.98m in the long jump, well down on her PB of 6.42m set in June of this year. As a result she dropped a place to 15th.

READ MORE: Abi Pawlett Follows in Footsteps of British Heptathlon Heroes as She Goes for Glory in Tokyo

After the long jump, Pawlett said: “It was a late night last night, getting back, checking in with the doctor, checking my head. Then a nice early start again this morning!

“I think I was on an adrenaline high yesterday and I’m just trying to keep that going today. But I didn’t have that fire in the long jump I guess that I had in the high jump yesterday, but I’ll probably go back, check in with the physios and go from there.”

Unfortunately, just after that interview British Athletics issued a statement saying: “Abi Pawlett has withdrawn from the heptathlon as she is still suffering the after effects of yesterday’s fall. We wish Abi a speedy recovery.”

However, she showed enough at this level to suggest there should be a lot more to come next year with the European Athletics Championships in Birmingham and the Glasgow Commonwealth Games on the horizon.

The gold medal was won by Hall ahead of Ireland’s Kate O’Connor, while Johnson-Thompson shared the bronze medal with USA’s Taliyah Brooks.

Later on Saturday, Jeremiah Azu (Cardiff Athletics) produced an excellent run in the first leg of the 4x100m relay for Great Britain despite the team ultimately crashing out in the semi-final.

The World Indoor 60m champion gave the GB team an excellent start as he handed over to Louis Hinchcliffe in first place.

GB maintained that lead going to the final changeover, but Jona Efoloko and Eugene Amo-Dadzie mistimed their exchange completely resulting in GB not finishing.

Hannah Brier (Swansea Harriers) was part of the women’s 4x400 relay squad in Japan but was not included in the final team of four which finished eighth in their semi-final and did not progress to the final.