EUGENE — The United States has its first medal in the heptathlon since 2001.
Anna Hall, the NCAA champion from the University of Florida, held on to win the bronze medal at the World Athletics Championships at Hayward Field on Monday night by winning the 800 meters, the last of the seven events.
Nafissatou Thiam of Belgium, the Olympic gold medalist in both Tokyo and Rio, won gold with 6,947 points and Anouk Vetter of the Netherlands took silver with a national record 6,867.
The first American to medal in heptathlon since Shelia Burrell’s bronze in 2001, Hall posted a personal best score of 6,755 points to hold off Poland’s Adrianna Sulek (6,672) to reach the podium. Hall ran the 800 in 2 minutes, 6.67 seconds, the sixth-fastest ever at the world championships for heptathletes, edging Sulek (2:07.18).
“It felt so good to finally close it out,” Hall said. “A lot of relief and I’m really proud and excited that I could do it on home soil. I didn’t really know how much I was going to PR by, but I knew that I would because both of my scores that were in the 6,400s this year, I had some pretty big mess-ups and left a lot of points on the table. I knew I had a shot at putting a really good one together. I didn’t know if it would come together, but luckily it did.”
Hall was fifth in the long jump (20 feet, 11¾ inches) and earned 972 points, but dropped behind Sulek to fourth. She regained third place after the javelin with a throw of 150-1, seventh best in the event, and entered the 800 with 5,741 points, 304 behind Vetter and 75 ahead of Sulek. She was aware of the margins entering the final event, in which Hall took a commanding lead early and Sulek closed the gap over the final 150 meters. But it wasn’t enough to alter the final standings.
Bronze medalist Anna Hall of the United States reacts after the heptathlon at the World Athletics Championships on Monday, July 18, 2022, in Eugene. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)AP
It was the culmination of a year in which Hall had surgery on a broken bone in her left foot and recovered from a torn deltoid she suffered during last year’s Olympic trials, then came back to win individual and team NCAA championships and now a world bronze medal.
“Honestly, I didn’t know what this year was going to look like for me,” she said. “I didn’t know if I was going to be ready for indoors. I really wasn’t expecting to PR this year, then I started seeing some progress in the fall and started getting excited and got my confidence back.”
Hall said she’ll take time off before returning to Florida and will decide whether to continue running in college or begin a professional career. Name, image and likeness (NIL) opportunities could change what the financial realities of each are.
“Right now I’m taking things day by day and I’ll evaluate each opportunity as they come,” Hall said. “Taking it one step at a time. (NIL) changes what each opportunity looks like. It makes the comparison a little different and maybe a little closer. Definitely will be evaluating differently than maybe somebody would have last year.”
Thiam, who also won gold at the world championships in 2017 and 2019, improved to 13-1 all-time against Vetter, who entered Monday night with a 19-point lead after winning the javelin.
Earlier Monday, Thiam won the long jump (21-7½) to extend her 61-point lead from Sunday to 83 with two events to go.
Vetter came in third in the long jump (21-4¾) to stay in striking distance overall, then she surpassed Thiam in the javelin, which Vetter won in 191-3 compared to Thiam (173-11), who finished third. Vetter earned 1,021 points with the win in javelin and she took a 6,045-6,026 edge over Thiam into the 800.
American Ashtin Zamzow-Mahler came in fifth in the javelin (148-10) and 12th in the 800 (2:22.28) for an 11th-place finish overall.
“All I got to say is next year is going to be a hell of a lot better than this year,” Zamzow-Mahler said. “But we made it, we got the experience we needed, moving on. Getting better. It was the worst second day of the year, so it’s just experience. I think getting used to the bigger stage and the lack of sleep and the 12-hour days.”
USA’s Michelle Atherley finished ninth in the long jump (19-8¼), 13th in javelin (106-1) and fourth in the 800 (2:12.16) to finish in 12th overall, which became last place after three women withdrew Monday.
“Another subpar performance,” Atherley said. “But I’m just happy to be here. A lot of getting used to. It’s much, much different than I anticipated, but I know the talent is there — absolutely no question about my ability. I know I can do it; it’s being able to prepare for the circumstances.”
Kendell Williams, who entered the day in 15th, finished 13th in the long jump (18-4 1/4) and ninth in the javelin (143-8). She withdrew before the 800 due to a torn left plantar fascia.
