Four years after taking gold in the heptathlon, Great Britain’s Jessica Ennis-Hill fell 35 points short of becoming the first repeat gold medalist in the event since Jackie Joyner-Kersee in 1988 and 1992.
The winner was Belgium’s Nafissatou Thiam, who amassed a total of 6810 points to Ennis-Hill’s 6775 and set a national record with that score. Ennis-Hill took silver, Great Britain’s seventh heptathlon medal and the nation’s first silver in the event since 1964. Taking bronze was Canada’s Brianne Thiesen-Eaton, the wife of American decathlete Ashton Eaton, who finished with a total of 6653 points.
Thiesen-Eaton’s medal is the first ever in the heptathlon for Canada, while Thiam’s gold is Belgium’s first in the event.