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Johnson-Thompson in third place following day one of the seven-event contest

Reigning title holder Katarina Johnson-Thompson shared she feels "thrilled" to resume her pursuit for a third world multi-event title after placing herself into medal hunt in Tokyo.

Johnson-Thompson will begin the final day of the championships in 3rd place with 3893 points, while American competitor Anna Hall topping the rankings at the midway stage (4154 points) ahead of Ireland's Kate O'Connor (three thousand nine hundred six points).

Belgium's Nafi Thiam, who defeated Johnson-Thompson for Olympic gold last year, sits sixth (3818 points) after placing 8th across Friday's concluding 200m races.

The heptathlon continues with the long jump on Saturday morning (3:35 am BST), then the javelin (11 am) precedes the concluding 800m (13:11).

"Today was a demanding timetable today, I'm not going to lie. Typically we have the full day to spread out the events but it was consecutive, which shows in the 200m times for everyone," she stated.

"A solid first day for me, I've had a lot worse and I've had a lot better. I just need to go home and rest and come back tomorrow.

"Tomorrow has got better in recent years, two of my best events are day two so I'm eager for tomorrow."

Johnson-Thompson was just 36 points away from gold at the recent Olympics—roughly a two-second difference in the 800m—but still marked the end of her wait for an Olympic medal with the silver medal at her fourth Games.

On Friday, she was back at the stadium where she suffered Olympic heartbreak four years ago, when her medal hopes were ended by a calf injury sustained during the 200m.

Johnson-Thompson clarified she was not seeking redemption in the Japanese capital, where she ended day one only 12 points behind the score she achieved on her way to world gold in 2023.

The challenge, however, is that silver medallist Hall has accumulated 156 points more than she had at this point two years ago.

Johnson-Thompson was thrilled for British team-mate Jade O'Dowda, who won their opening 100m hurdles race in a career-best 13.34 seconds, ahead of Johnson-Thompson in a year's best of 13.44.

She was relieved to stay in the competition with a clearance at 1.86m with her third and final attempt, ensuring she equaled Hall, as Thiam cleared 1.89m.

And she finished with the third best 200m time, behind Hall and fellow Briton Abigail Pawlett, who recovered from a nasty fall at the end of the 100m hurdles to end the day in fourteenth place (three thousand six hundred ninety-eight points)—one place above Jade O'Dowda (3696 points).

Thiam, who has split the past four world golds with Johnson-Thompson, could not assert herself on the opening day following a build-up complicated by a conflict with Belgian Athletics.

The 31-year-old's federation have disputed her claims that she was barred from joining the team camp before the championships for refusing to sign its code of conduct.

Hodgkinson and Hunter Bell eye British podium sweep

Both athletes reach 800m final

Great Britain's Keely Hodgkinson and Georgia Hunter Bell will meet in the women's 800m final on Sunday after the two training partners continued their impressive progress through the rounds.

After Olympic 800m champion Hodgkinson and Olympic 1500m bronze medallist Hunter Bell both won their heats on Thursday, they safely finished inside the top two automatic qualification places in their respective semi-finals.

Hodgkinson won her heat in one minute 57.53 seconds, while Hunter Bell crossed the line behind Kenya's defending champion Mary Moraa.

They will attempt to become the first British athletes to secure a gold and silver at a global championships since Christine Ohuruogu and Nicola Sanders in the women's 400m in the Japanese city of Osaka, 18 years ago.

Hodgkinson is the top contender, having ended her wait for a first global title last summer and returned from a 12-month injury-enforced absence to clock the fastest time in the world this year.

"It feels great to be in my fifth world finals in a row. I'm really happy to do that and be in contention for another medal," Hodgkinson said.

"This achievement would represent more to me than last year, just the journey here makes it that much more rewarding.

"It's very challenging to get here anyway, and then to come here and perform, especially off the year that I've had—I'm just appreciative to be running and want to put together a performance I'm proud of. I want to be able to say I left it all out there."

George Mills advanced safely to the final of the men's 5,000m on Sunday by finishing fourth in his heat.

GB's Mills advances to 5000m final