Nafissatou Thiam was crowned champion of the heptathlon at the Rio Olympics as day two came to a close. Thiam came from behind to defeat defending champion Jessica Ennis-Hill. Ennis-Hill had led coming into the second day of events.

Thiam takes the long jump to take the lead

As day two of the hepathlon began, Ennis-Hill who lead the way having accumulated 4,057 points on Day 1 while Thiam racked up 3,985. Canada's Brianne Thiesen-Eaton, wife of defending decathlon champion Ashton Eaton was sitting in third.

The opening event of day two was the long jump, which saw Thiam win the event with a 6.58 meter jump on her final attempt after fouling on her first try whereas Ennis-Hill's best jump was her first one at 6.34 meters and her next two were significantly worse, placing her in seventh, although not a poor jump by any means, it was far off her 6.63 mark in Rantingen earlier this year.

Thiesen-Eaton recorded a jump of 6.48 meters, good enough for fourth spot. Thiam now led Ennis-Hill by four points heading to the next event, the javelin throw.

Naffisatou Thiam competes in the long jump, an event she won, on day two of the heptathlon at the Olympics/Photo: Alexander Hassenstein/Getty Images
Naffisatou Thiam competes in the long jump, an event she won, on day two of the heptathlon at the Olympics/Photo: Alexander Hassenstein/Getty Images

Latvian Ikauniece-Admidina wins javelin throw, top three have varying results

A new contender for the podium had emerged in the form of Latvian Laura Ikauniece-Admidina as she took the javelin throw with a score of 55.93 feet, a personal best as she shot up the standings from 12th to 5th. The top three had mixed showings, Thiam finishing third only able to take one throw due to an elbow injury, but it was 53.13, good enough to maintain her overall lead. Thiesen-Eaton was 12th and Ennis-Hill in a tie for 16th. A

lthough not her best events, Ennis-Hill lost ground, falling behind by 142 points while producing a throw of just 46.06. Thiesen-Eaton led a three-way battle for third with 5,681 points while Germany's Carolin Schafer had 5,669 points while Ikauniece-Admidina had earned 5,644 points. The battles for the medals promised to be close as the final event, the 800 meters approached.

Ennis-Hill wins 800 meters by eight seconds, margin not enough to catch Thiam, retain title as Belgian is crowned Olympic champion

Ennis-Hill knew the challenge of finishing about 10 seconds ahead of Thiam in the 800 meters in her bid to retain her Olympic title would be tough, but this was Thiam's worst event, so it was certainly possible. Not long after the gun went off, Ennis-Hill shot to the front but was closely pursued by Theisen-Eaton, Ikauniece-Admidina and Johnson-Thompson.

Ennis-Hill timed in with first lap of 1:02.84, putting her on course for a potential lifetime best. The others in the lead pack were still close to Ennis-Hill as the covered the second lap, but the pace slightly slowed, along with her chances of a personal best. The defending champion stopped the clock at a season’s best of 2:09.07 with Ikauniece-Admidina running a massive personal best of 2:09.43 close behind her. Theisen-Eaton crossed the line in 2:09.50, roughly one second ahead of Johnson-Thompson.

Ennis-Hill won the 800 meters, but the margin wasn't big enough for her to repeat as heptathlon champion/Photo: Alexander Hassenstein/Getty Images
Ennis-Hill won the 800 meters, but the margin wasn't big enough for her to repeat as heptathlon champion/Photo: Alexander Hassenstein/Getty Images

The big question was how far behind Thiam would be. She was still halfway up the home straightaway, but soon it became more and more clear that she wasn’t as much as 10 seconds behind Ennis-Hill. Instead the difference was little more than seven seconds as the 21-year-old clocked 2:16.54, her fifth personal best of the competition. That was more than enough to give her the Olympic title with 6,810 points, the 16th best point total ever. Ennis-Hill tool silver with 6,775 points while Thiesen-Eaton set a personal best point total of 6653 points.

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About the author
John Lupo
I am a writer and photographer. I have two Instagrams: @lupojohn1 is my personal account while @dslr_transit_photos is my photography account as I do transit photography in my hometown of New York City.