Nafissatou THIAM

Nafissatou Thiam has always been drawn to multi-sport track and field events. The Belgian ace started practising heptathlon at seven before winning her first national age group title at 15.

At the Rio 2016 Olympics, she became the youngest heptathlon gold medalist ever, at just 21. Since then, the Brussels native has continued to dominate the women's sport, winning the world title in London in 2017, and claiming the women's pentathlon at the 2017 European Indoor Championships the same year.

Entering the elite 7000 club and double Olympic gold

Thiam also added records to her winning form. She scored 7013 at the Hypo-Meeting in 2017, which put her third in the elite group of only four female athletes who have ever achieved a score of over 7000 points in the heptathlon. She went on to win the gold medal at the 2018 European Athletics Championships.

Despite an elbow injury that affected her javelin performance, the Olympic champion claimed the 2019 World Athletics Championship silver medal. In 2021, she won the pentathlon at the European Indoor Championships for a second time. She later secured her second consecutive Olympic gold at Tokyo 2020 in 2021, becoming the first athlete from Belgium to successfully defend an Olympic title.