By Nick Mulvenney
TOKYO (Reuters) – In-form American Anna Hall made a statement on the opening day of the heptathlon at the world championships on Friday, racking up 4,154 points over the four events to take a decent lead into day two.
The 24-year-old, who became the fifth woman to join the elite 7,000 points club in Poland earlier this year, shone while Belgium’s triple Olympic champion Nafi Thiam showed signs of rust after a relatively inactive season.
Ireland’s Kate O’Connor ran a personal best of 24.07 in the 200m to finish the day in second place in the overall rankings with 3,906 points, just ahead of Britain’s defending champion Katarina Johnson-Thompson (3,893).
Thiam, who won world titles in 2017 and 2022 and last lost in competition in 2019, was sixth on 3,818 points behind Dutchwoman Sofie Dokter (3,890) and Hall’s compatriot Taliyah Brooks (3,828).
Hall, who won bronze in 2022 and silver in 2023, sat third after running a season’s best 13.05 seconds in the 100 metres hurdles, but moved top of the standings after making 1.89 metres in the high jump – a leap only Thiam was able to match.
She had the two biggest throws in the shot, grinning to herself after earning a personal best of 15.80m on her third attempt, and rounded out the night with the second-fastest time in the 200m (23.50).
Thiam, the only other active member of the 7,000 points club, had a disrupted run up to the championships after a row with her national federation.
She accused the Belgian athletics body of excluding her from their pre-championships camp in a row over image rights. The federation denied the allegation.
The athletes compete in long jump, javelin and 800m on Saturday.
(Reporting by Nick Mulvenney, Editing by Ken Ferris)
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