PARIS, Aug 10 (Bernama-Xinhua) -- Belgium’s Nafissatou Thiam secured her third consecutive Olympic heptathlon title at the Paris Games on Friday, Xinhua reported.
The 29-year-old amassed 6,880 points over the two-day event, finishing 36 points ahead of Britain’s Katarina Johnson-Thompson, who took silver.
Thiam’s compatriot Noor Vidts claimed bronze with 6,707 points.
“I don’t think I can describe it,” Thiam said. “It’s a mix of everything I’ve lived. I could use a thousand words. If you didn’t live every single day with me for the past two, three, or four years, you wouldn’t understand what I feel right now. But it’s unique, and I think the main feeling is pride. I’m very proud of myself and grateful.”
Thiam attributed her dominance in the discipline to years of hard work, which, she said, had taken both a physical and mental toll.
"I feel very special," she said. "It's the first thing that everybody told me in interviews. I didn't cross that line and think that I made history. I thought all this pain, hard work, sacrifice, all those moments where I felt lonely. All that pain, all that hard work, all of that paid off and I'm really grateful for that.
She added: “As I always say, in sports you give everything you have; you need to in every moment. But you have to take whatever the sport gives you, and it can be nothing. Today it’s a lot, and I’m grateful for that.”
-- BERNAMA-XINHUA
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