Britain’s Jessica Ennis-Hill narrowly failed to retain her Olympic heptathlon title as she had to settle for a silver medal behind Belgium’s Nafissatou Thiam in Rio.
Advertisement
Ennis-Hill needed to beat Thiam by almost 10 seconds in the closing 800m but Thiam, who produced five personal bests from seven events, managed to pace her run well and eventually prevailed by a total of 35 points.
Thiam’s winning total was 6,810 with Ennis-Hill on 6,775, while Canada’s Brianne Thiesen Eaton took the bronze as Britain’s Katarina Johnson-Thompson finished sixth.
Should she call it a day, Ennis-Hill will retire having won Olympic gold, two world titles and European gold in the heptathlon as well as world indoor gold in the pentathlon.
“In the 800m I was just trying not to let Jess go, I thought I could do 2:15 or 16 and not let her go too far”.
“These two days have been really tough but I’m really proud. I didn’t think about it at all”, said Thiam.
The Sheffield athlete went into the final event, the 800m, needing to run 9.47 seconds quicker than Thiam to make up a deficit of 142 points. “She’s had two great days and she wasn’t going to give that up”.
Ennis-Hill was undoubtedly the poster girl for the London 2012 Olympic Games and she lived up to the hype by blowing her competitors out of the water and taking hole Gold.
Britain’s Jessica Ennis-Hill, left, smiles at the end of the heptathlon during the athletics competitions of the 2016 Summer Olympics at the Olympic stadium in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Saturday, Aug. 13, 2016. Belgian victor Thiam, 21, claimed five personal bests over the seven events.
Jessica has a 2-year-old son, Reggie, and suggested she may take time out to spend time with her family.
But the quietly spoken 21-year-old, who was born to a Belgian mother and Senegalese father, and studies geography at the University of Liege, had other ideas.
She led after the first day but dropped back after Saturday’s long jump. Her first effort was just 36.36m, almost six metres below her personal best, while her second was so poor she purposely stepped over the line so it counted as foul.
The great irony is that Johnson-Thompson’s coach, Mike Holmes, is a specialist throws expert: he has spent years trying to get her shot put and javelin up to scratch.
“These were my second Olympics and to win gold at my first and silver here makes me so proud”.
Advertisement
“It’s obviously not what I came for”, she said. We always said it was going to take 6,800 to win and it did – 6,810, so I feel like I was capable of it but there’s nothing I can do. More than anything because it could be the last time. I’m just very happy with our performances.
