Katarina Johnson-Thompson delivered an indoor personal best in shot put to sit second after three pentathlon events at the World Indoor Championships.
The 25-year-old sits in silver medal position on 2,873 points, with Cuba's Yorgelis Rodriguez leading on 2,886.
Johnson-Thompson was sixth quickest over 60m hurdles, topped the high-jump standings with 1.91m and threw 12.68m in shot put in Birmingham.
She will contest long jump (18:00 GMT) and 800m (20:17) this evening.
The climax to the five-discipline event will be shown on BBC Two and the BBC Sport website from 17:50 and the three athletes at the top of the standings have shared close company in global events in the past.
Rodriguez, 23, won World Junior Championship gold in heptathlon in 2012 at the same championships where Johnson-Thompson took gold in long jump.
The pair also face competition from Austria's Ivona Dadic, with the 24-year-old just a point behind Johnson-Thompson in third.
Johnson-Thompson topped the high-jump scoring by clearing 1.91m
Katarina Johnson-Thompson topped the high jump by clearing 1.91m
Rodriguez, who threw an impressive 14.15m in the shot put, placed fourth at last year's heptathlon at the outdoor World Championships in London, with
Johnson-Thompson fifth and Dadic sixth.
Long jump and 800m are traditionally among Johnson-Thompson's better events and she edged her two nearest rivals over both disciplines at the event at London Stadium in August.
Liverpool Harrier Johnson-Thompson has not won a major medal since claiming pentathlon gold at the European Indoor Championships in 2015.
Of the three athletes nearest the top of the leaderboard, it is Dadic who has tasted the most recent success, claiming silver in pentathlon at last year's European Indoors.