Belgium’s Thiam thinks of pain, not history after hat-trick

Nafissatou Thiam. Pic/AFP

Belgium's Nafissatou Thiam said years of suffering lay behind her Olympic success after she clinched a historic treble of heptathlon golds on Friday.

The 29-year-old cemented her status as the greatest all-round women's track and field athlete of her generation with a third consecutive gold in the gruelling multi-discipline test of endurance.

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Thiam, the 2016 and 2020 Olympic champion, finished with 6,880 points after the 800m, pipping Britain's Katarina Johnson-Thompson took silver with 6,844 points. Thiam's compatriot Noor Vidts won bronze with 6,707 points.

"I didn't cross that line and think that I made history," said Thiam, the first woman to win three heptathlon golds. "I thought all this pain, hard work, sacrifice, all those moments where I felt lonely. All that pain, hard work, all of that paid off."

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