Nafissatou Thiam once again claims European Championship title in heptathlon

13/06/2024

The Belgian won the gold medal at the European Athletics Championships for the third time in a row. Her compatriot Noor Vidts also made it onto the European podium.

Of the women's events, heptathlon is undeniably the most demanding discipline in athletics, and undoubtedly dedicated to the most all-round athletes. Competitors compete in the 100m hurdles, high jump, shot put, 200m, long jump, javelin and finally the 800m. 

At this year's European Athletics Championships in Rome, Nafissatou Thiam shone once again in her first competition of the year. Her last appearance was at the Belgian championships on 30 July 2023, when painful Achilles tendons forced her to take a cautious approach. 

On the first day of the competition, the reigning Olympic champion ran the 100m hurdles in 13.74 (1,015 points), won the high jump, clearing 1.95m (1,171 points), threw the shot put 15.06m (865 points) and ran the 200m in 24.81 (904 points).  

On the second day, she pulled away significantly from her other competitors, including compatriot Noor Vidts, with a successful long jump of 6.59m (1,036 points), followed by a javelin throw of 53 metres (918 points).  

In the final event, the 800 meters, Nafi Thiam finished in a solid 3rd place, scoring 939 points. Scoring a total of 6,848 points, she became European heptathlon champion for the third time and confirmed her qualification for the Paris Olympic Games. As did her fellow Belgian Noor Vidts, who set a new personal best (6,596 points) and won the bronze medal. 

At 29, the best Belgian athlete of all time adds to a list of achievements that already includes two Olympic titles (Rio de Janeiro 2016 and Tokyo 2020), becoming the second heptathlete to retain her Olympic title and the first Belgian sportswoman to win back-to-back Olympic gold medals. She has also twice been crowned world champion in the discipline, in 2017 in London and in 2022 in Eugene (USA).  

She is now a three-time consecutive European heptathlon champion thanks to her titles in 2018, 2022 and 2024.