Connect with us

Hi, what are you looking for?

Athletics

Thiam seeks more after history’s greatest pentathlon

A stunning world indoor pentathlon record of 5055 points* by Belgium’s Nafissatou Thiam highlighted a captivating night at the European Indoor Championships in Istanbul on Friday (3), but this was no solo display of supremacy.

Thiam was pushed to the dying moments by Poland’s Adrianna Sulek, whose tally of 5014 also surpassed the previous world record of 5013, set in the same Atakoy Arena in 2012 by Ukraine’s Nataliya Dobrynska.

And the most exciting part? They both feel like they have more to give.

After a strong morning of action, Thiam had a lead of 144 points going into the evening session. She kept Sulek at arm’s length with her 6.59m effort in the long jump, which gave her a 134-point lead ahead of the 800m, which she went into knowing she needed to run under 2:15.60 to break the world record. Sulek very nearly ran herself to a standstill in the final event, stumbling through the final metres to hit the line in 2:07.17, with Thiam crossing in 2:13.60 to take her third European indoor gold, along with the world record.

“Coming here, I felt very confident,” said Thiam. “I have done a lot of good work and of course, the record was in my mind. But you need a good competition, to feel good and to perform well. It is good information for me that I managed to show this result despite the fact that not all events were perfect today. The long jump, high jump could have been better. So I can still build on this.”

Sulek was buoyed by her performance and has eyes on going one better next time. “I really wanted to have a world record and I have done everything,” she said. “I didn’t expect that Nafissatou would be fighting in this style today. I hope that in the future I will be the best in the world.”

Credit: World Athletics 

You May Also Like

Boxing

The British Boxing Board of Control (BBBofC) issued a memo today stating that they are “not considering applications for any Ghanaian boxers.” This means...

African Cup Of Nations

The Black Stars’ appearance in the 2021 edition will be their 23rd time and they will be keen to end their long awaited drought...

Combat Sports

Malaysia based multi decorated Ghanaian kickboxer, Gerald Dah is in high spirits ahead of his latest fight this Friday after safely landing in Kuala...

Africa Games

The Vice President, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia has donated GH¢50,000 to the Sports Writers Association of Ghana (SWAG) towards this year’s Awards night scheduled for...