The heptathlon in Doha was one of the finest competitions in recent memory.
The battle featured the Olympic, World and European Champion (Nafi Thiam) vs Katerina Johnson-Thompson, 2018 European silver medalist, 2018 World Indoor Champion. This was an event by event battle. The quality of the athletes is such that one error and a medal is gone.
Katerina Johnson Thompson, photo by PhotoRun.net
Johnson-Thompson won 4 of 7 events. Her 2:07.26 was gutty and focused, giving her the gold medal. Nafi Thiam did not compete well, she had several sub par performances. In many of her past performances, Johnson-Thompson had a sub par event in her heptathlons. That was not the case in Doha.
Verena Preiner of Austria had a brilliant performance, taking the bronze in Doha.
The presser was exciting, and questions fun and answers complete.
Special thanks to the Shoe Addicts’ Adam Johnson Eder on filming and Mike Deering on production.
Senior Writer Jeff Benjamin has written for almost 40 years for RunBlogRun! The Former President of the Staten Island AC & was the 5th man scorer for his 1982 Susan Wagner High School NYC XC City Championship team. Also a member of the College of Staten Island Sports Hall of Fame for XC, Jeff is also a retired NYC DOE history teacher. Some of Jeff's subjects have included Sebastian Coe, Eamonn Coghlan, Matt Centrowitz, Billy Mills, Joe Newton, Tom Fleming, Bill Rodgers, Abel Kiviat, Frank Shorter, Rod Dixon and Carl Lewis as well as Book Reviews and articles covering track meets and races primarily in the Northeast U.S. and beyond.
Jeff has also covered Track & Field events at the 1996, 2016 & 2024 Olympic Games as well as the 2022 World T&F Championships in Eugene, Oregon. A noted T&F historian and chronicler of the athletic achievements of Jim Thorpe, Jeff helped with the restoration of Thorpe to the official IOC 1912 Record Books.
In 2023 Jeff was honored with the awarded the prestigious James Dunaway memorial award for excellence in Track and Field journalism by the Track and Field Writers Association.
Katerina Johnson Thompson, photo by PhotoRun.net
