Jessica Ennis-Hill is favourite to retain the title she won at London 2012 but she is expected to face stiff competition from compatriot Katarina Johnson-Thompson at the Rio Olympics.

Team GB and Team USA already have a slew of medals under their belt, but as these adorable photographs show, each and every one of our Olympians had to start somewhere.

Sir Bradley Wiggins has become the most decorated British Olympian in history after winning his eighth individual medal, as part of the men's team pursuit squad.

Britain's golden girls Jessica Ennis-Hill (left) and Katarina Johnson-Thompson (right) yesterday began their battle for the women’s heptathlon title in Rio de Janeiro.

Katarina Johnson-Thompson has not improved her heptathlon personal best since 2014. Senior figures in British Athletics would like her to part company with long-time coach Mike Holmes and leave Liverpool.

DALEY THOMPSON: The achievement of Jessica Ennis-Hill in winning back-to-back medals in the Olympic heptathlon places her alongside the best British athletes in history.

It's HOT OR NOT time once again, as IAN LADYMAN runs the rule over the good and bad from the world of sport this week, including Glenn Hoddle, Gary Neville and Mark Cavendish.

Katarina Johnson-Thompson has been ruled out of the Indoor Grand Prix but is expected to be fit for the European Indoor Championships after suffering a minor hamstring strain.

The Scottish runner has been in fine form and she leads a team packed with medal prospects. Performance director Neil Black said he is 'pleased with the blend of the team' for the championships.

Katarina Johnson-Thompson admits to a struggle learning French but says a new life in Montpellier and mentoring from Jessica Ennis-Hill could translate into gold-winning performances.

She leads Olympic champion Nafissatou Thiam and Carolin Schafer, who sit three and six points back respectively going into the long jump, javelin and 800m.

With the World Championships in London just around the corner, the excitement levels are slowly starting to build. WILL KELLEHER takes a look at the athletes that fans should watch out for.

Katarina Johnson-Thompson registered a season-best throw of 41.72 metres but it was only good enough for 20th place as her heptathlon hopes took a hit on Sunday afternoon.

Pole vaulter Holly Bradshaw declared herself 'heartbroken' after falling short in the final. Bradshaw needed to clear the bar at 4.75m on her final jump to stand a chance of a podium finish.

RIATH AL-SAMARRAI AT THE LONDON STADIUM: Johnson-Thompson, there was a degree of redemption, considering it was this discipline that wrecked her chances in the heptathlon.

UK Athletics chief executive Niels de Vos has defended Britain's performance at the World Championship by claiming an athletics medal is the hardest prize to win in sport.

The 25-year-old is favourite for the pentathlon at the World Indoor Championships, which were getting under way on Thursday but has played down her chances of winning.

In the space of a pentathlon on Friday, Johnson-Thompson ran, jumped and threw her way out of the realm of perennial underachiever and into one reserved for world champions.

HOT OR NOT: Patrick Bamford rediscovers form at Middlesbrough

EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW BY RIATH AL-SAMARRAI: Two gold medals tell a story of potential being fulfilled, but there has also been a painful loss. Her father, Ricky Thompson, died last November.

Katarina Johnson-Thompson sits top of the leaderboard after the opening morning of the heptathlon at the European Championships.

Sometimes the opposition is just too good. For that reason alone, Katarina Johnson-Thompson will reflect on the silver linings of her trip to Berlin instead of celebrating a golden hat-trick.

For Katarina Johnson-Thompson, there was a hugely impressive silver medal after eventually losing her fascinating heptathlon tussle with the great Belgian, Nafi Thiam.

On the basis of her impressive performances in winning a European heptathlon silver medal in Berlin this week, the odds are finally shortening on her one day finding a way past Nafi Thiam.

Athletic stars Katarina Johnson-Thompson and Dina Asher-Smith made the most of their post-season break by heading down the catwalk at Paris Fashion Week.

It says something about her complex psychology that Katarina Johnson-Thompson arrived to a headliner's billing in an Austrian mountain town on Friday and found it all rather strange.

RIATH AL-SAMARRAI IN GOTZIS: Perhaps she was being a little harsh on herself. Having admitted that she still feels like an 'impostor' at the highest level, she made a mockery of her words.

Katarina Johnson-Thompson arrived in Austria with doubts in her mind and left on Sunday night having maybe implanted a few in someone else.

Before Jodie Comer played the ruthless assassin Villanelle in the hit show, she honed her skills in drama classes at the same Liverpool school attended as the indoor pentathlon champion.

EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW BY RIATH AL-SAMARRAI: Katarina Johnson-Thompson is talking about recognition and the time it can take for some folk to see what is so clear to others.

Her haul of 4,138 points puts her 96 clear of the Olympic champion from Belgium, which is not unusual - the configuration of this event is such that she usually has the best of day one.

RIATH AL-SAMARRAI IN DOHA: After all the squirming and falling and doubting and fouling, the Kat finally let herself out of the bag. The 26-year-old can now officially call herself the world's best.

RIATH AL-SAMARRAI: The 26-year-old scored an astonishing 6,981 points to crush the Olympic champion Nafi Thiam and go sixth on the all-time list, ahead of Britain's Jessica Ennis-Hill.

The 26-year-old broke Jessica Ennis-Hill's British record to post 6,981 points and take the title at the World Championships on Thursday. She beat defending champion Nafi Thiam by 304 points.

RIATH AL-SAMARRAI IN DOHA: There were tears before bedtime for Katarina Johnson-Thompson and a few more after breakfast on Friday morning.

Johnson-Thompson could break the 12-year-old European heptathlon record, according to the former champion who played a major role in the transformation of her career.

The heptathlete, 26, shared a sun-drenched snap of herself to Instagram on Monday posing on an idyllic sea swing.

INTERVIEW BY LAURA LAMBERT: While people are tucking into mince pies and turkey on Christmas Day, Katarina Johnson-Thompson will be out on the track, determined to get the edge on her rivals.

From the moment Andy Murray announced his premature 'retirement' from tennis in early January, it has proved to be a rollercoaster of emotions in the sporting world throughout 2019.

EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW BY RIATH AL-SAMARRAI: I'll tell you one that surprised me - it was a message from my language tutor,' says Katarina Johnson-Thompson.

EXCLUSIVE BY RIATH AL-SAMARRAI: The heated marketing row that casts a shadow over Team GB's preparations for the Tokyo Olympics is expected to be resolved next week.

Britain's Katarina Johnson-Thompson and Greece's Katerina Stefanidi said athletes felt forced to continue training despite the health risks because Olympic chiefs say the Games will still go ahead.

There are three significant events in the 2021 athletics calendar, with the European Indoors on March 5-7 joined by the rescheduled World Indoors on March 19-21 and the Tokyo Olympics.

One Direction stars Niall Horan and Harry Styles were two of the celeb fans who posted heartfelt tributes to the star on social media as the news broke.

Eagles guitarist Glenn Frey had been hospitalized since November and was in and out of a coma from pneumonia before his death

RAY CONNOLLY: Waking up to learn that Glenn Frey, who co-wrote and sang that song with the American group The Eagles, had died, there was much lamentation among rock music fans.

Legal documents reveal the 51-year-old was also named executor of his will, meaning she is in charge of distributing his personal effects as per his instruction.

In her complaint, Cindy Frey (nee Millican) accused Mt. Sinai Hospital in Manhattan of negligence for failing to properly treat her late husband Glenn Frey's ulcerative colitis.

Adele showed she can nail any musical performance as she channelled her inner Nicki Minaj during a raucous rap performance in Los Angeles on Tuesday.

Nicki Minaj smoldered in a new Instagram post this Thursday. The 36-year-old rapper showed off her cleavage in a busty colorful bodysuit and let her fur wrap slide off one shoulder.