News24.06.2019
Joy and tears for Nafi Thiam at the IAAF Combined events challenge meeting of Talence
It was a day of mixed feelings for Nafi as she made a spectacular comeback in her main event and set a world leading heptathlon performance. Nafi started off blazing through the first events, even setting world record in the high jump (2m02) and going into the second day as the leader.
The second day started perfect for Nafi, who set a new Belgian record in the long jump. She managed 6m67, breaking the 1996 record of Sandrine Hennart. However, things went wrong in the last-but-one event, the javelin. Nafi felt a strong pain in her elbow when she threw, had to withdraw from the event, and lost all chances of breaking the European record of Karolina Kluft (7,032 points in 2007). Still, Nafi did not give up and finished a solid 800m and achieved an overall performance that is her second best career result.
"it's hard to be joyful about the long jump record considering what happened afterwards. It's hard for me, because I had a difficult winter and I worked hard to be back here."
