Heptathlon, Women

The two best heptathletes in the past few years had been Belgium’s Nafi Thiam, the defending gold medalist, and Great Britain’s Katarina Johnson-Thompson, but both had been struggling with injuries and it was hard to know their form coming into Tokyo. Other challengers for medals were Hungarian Xénia Krizsán and Dutchwoman Anouk Vetter, who had finished 1-2 at Götzis earlier in the year, and three Americans – Erica Bougard, Annie Kunz, and Kendell Williams – who had the year’s three best scores.

Krizsán was never a factor, eventually placing 13th, and Johnson-Thompson would not finish, falling victim to a calf injury in the 200 metres at the end of the first day. The lead in event one went to Williams, who ran 12.97 in the 100 hurdles, with Thiam well back in 15th place, but she would move into the lead with a 1.92 high jump. Vetter took the lead at the end of day one, running 23.81 in the 200 as Thiam dropped to third, after a 24.90 effort, also trailing Belgian Noor Vidts.

On the second day, Vetter kept her lead after the long jump, but Thiam was only 4 points behind after a 6.60 jump, as Vidts fell to third. A 54.68 javelin throw put Thiam back in front and gave her a 64-point lead over Vetter entering the 800 metres. Thiam extended her lead by running 2:15.98 to defend her Olympic title, which had only been done before by Jackie Joyner-Kersee. Vetter held on for the silver medal although the 800 was a weak event for her. Coming from nowhere for the bronze medal was Vetter’s teammate Emma Oosterwegel, who had been 11th after day one, and was still 8th after the long jump, but closed strongly with 54.60 and 2:11.09 to move up to third place.