Third gold medal

Nafi Thiam sole “Queen of Athletics”

Nafissatou Thiam

(Bild: AFP/APA/Ben STANSALL)

The Belgian Nafissatou Thiam is now the sole "Queen of Athletics"! The 29-year-old won the heptathlon in Paris with 6880 points ahead of her great rival Katarina Johnson-Thompson (Gb/6844), finally crowning herself the greatest all-around athlete in history. After Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2021, she won the heptathlon for the third time in a row, something no athlete before her has ever achieved!

Only Jackie Joyner-Kersee had previously won gold twice (1988 and 1992). But now the Belgian outdid her with her victory in Paris - in a dramatic decision. Katarina Johnson-Thompson ran a personal best over the final 800 m in 2:04.90, but this was not quite enough for gold, as Nafi Thiam fought her way to the finish in 2:10.62 with the last of her energy and became Olympic champion by a margin of 36 points. Noor Vidts from Holland took bronze with 6707 points.

US men's relay team disqualified
In the sprint relays, the USA first celebrated their twelfth Olympic gold in the women's event in 41.78 seconds in the pouring rain, ahead of Great Britain (41.85) and Germany, who won their first medal since 1988 with bronze in the 4 x 100 m (41.97) - after which the US men were once again disqualified in the Olympic final. The quartet, which had to make do without Olympic 100m champion Noah Lyles due to Covid, was disqualified after a handover error. This means that the USA has been waiting 24 years for an Olympic gold medal in the men's 4x100m. Canada, on the other hand, became Olympic champions for the second time since 1996 in 37.50 ahead of South Africa (37.57) and Great Britain (37.61).

Dream run by Paulino
In the fastest Olympic final in history, Marileidy Paulino won the 400 m with a new Olympic record of 48.17 seconds. With this dream time, the 27-year-old moved up to fourth place in the "eternal" world best list. Only Marita Koch from the GDR with 47.60 (1985), Jarmila Kratochvilova from the CSSR with 47.99 (1983) and Salwa Eid Naser from Burundi with 48.14 (2019) were faster than her. At home in the Dominican Republic, Marileidy Paulino's mother was able to cheer along in front of a TV set. Former baseball player Vladimir Guerrero had given her a TV set before the games in Paris. This is how her mother witnessed her daughter's first Olympic gold, who won silver in the 400 m and 4x400 m relay in Tokyo 2021.