Pan Macmillan wins gold with Katerina Johnson-Thompson memoir 

Pan Macmillan has acquired World Heptathlon Champion Katarina Johnson-Thompson’s “inspirational” memoir/manifesto, Unbroken.

Editor Ause Abdelhaq acquired world rights from Greg Kirkpatrick at Summus Sports, with Unbroken slated to publish in November 2024.

Liverpool-born Johnson-Thompson has won the heptathalon gold twice in sucession at the World Championships in 2019 and 2023. Her attempts to replicate those feats in the Olympics have been famously marred by injuries.

In the book, Pan Mac said, Johnson-Thompson “distils all the lessons she’s learned from an extraordinary career, opening up about topics she’s never before discussed in public. From bursting on to the scene as a teenager and living with the expectations of becoming a national hero; to growing up mixed-race in Liverpool in the 1990s and being seen as a representative voice for Black Lives Matter; to coming so close to Olympic glory at Tokyo 2020, only to suffer a career-threatening injury in front of the world”.

Abdelhaq said: “Katarina is one of the most resilient people I’ve ever met. A champion in every sense of the word, I could not be prouder to be sharing her story with the public.”

Johnson-Thompson added: “I’ve been approached to do a book many times over the years, but now feels like the right time. My road to success hasn’t always been a steady one; I’ve gone through many ups-and-downs, but I’ve learned from every experience. Unbroken is my chance to share those lessons with the world.”