Belgium’s Thiam wins third consecutive heptathlon gold

PARIS: Belgium’s Nafisatou Thiam won her third straight Olympic women’s heptathlon gold on Friday with a strong performance in the javelin throw to edge out Britain’s Katarina Johnson-Thompson, who was vying for silver.

Thiam, the first multi-sport athlete in Olympic history to win three events, scored 6,880 points, surpassing Johnson-Thompson in the javelin and finishing the final 800 meters ahead of the British competitor by 121 points, equivalent to a lead of 8.6 seconds.

Two-time world champion Johnson-Thompson needed the biggest 800m race of her life to win gold, and although she ran a career-best 2:04.90, it was only enough to earn her 6,844 points as the Belgian ran a career-best 2:10.62.

“I knew (Johnson-Thompson) was going to go for it because she had nothing to lose,” Thiam said. “But I went for it in the 800 and I was confident. I tried to keep her in my sights and never gave up. I’m really proud of myself for being able to achieve this dream.”

Noor Vidts of Belgium won the bronze medal with 6,707 points.

In the penultimate event, Thiam threw a stunning javelin of 54.04 metres, after trailing the 31-year-old Johnson-Thompson by 45 points.

Johnson-Thompson emerged as the overnight leader in the seven-event competition with a dream start to set personal bests in the shot put and a high jump of 1.92m.

However, she struggled in the long jump on Friday, failing on her first try, losing a valuable 34 centimetres on her second and clearing just 6.40 metres on her third.

Thiam’s career best javelin throw was 13 metres longer than her British rival’s, as she threw a season’s best of 54.04 metres, while Johnson-Thompson only managed 45.49 metres.

Johnson-Thompson finished 13th at the 2012 London Olympics, her first medal in four Olympic Games, and despite a strong performance in the high jump in 2016, she finished sixth, which was a big disappointment.

She bounced back to win the 2019 world championships but ruptured her Achilles tendon before the Tokyo Olympics and was expected to medal before tearing her calf in her final 200-meter race on the opening day. — Reuters