Thiam wins the heptathlon gold with a strong 800m performance

Nafissatou Thiam of Belgium, a two-time Olympic winner, successfully defended her title as world heptathlon champion on Monday by outlasting Dutch competitor Anouk Vetter with a personal best in the final 800 meters.

Although Vetter entered the final event 19 points ahead of Thiam, which translates to 1.3 seconds over 800 meters, her personal best was more nearly two seconds slower than Thiam’s. Vetter finished second to Thiam for silver in Tokyo last year.

Though clearly exhausted from the start, she was never able to pose a real danger, and Thiam displayed her class by producing a mammoth personal best of 2:13.00 to win a second global gold after 2017.

When it came to the 800, Thiam remarked, “I worked really hard so I thought I could make a good time but I think I needed that extra push of someone behind me.”

Due to her best-ever first-day point total, Thiam was in the lead at the conclusion of Sunday’s competition.

On Monday morning, Vetter came back with a personal best long jump and a potent javelin to take a slim lead.

The bronze medalist and promising future champion from the United States, Anna Hall, 21, also had the satisfaction of being clapped home as the 800m winner.

Katarina Johnson-Thompson of Britain, the defending champion, placed seventh after losing to Thiam in the 2019 global championship.