ISTANBUL: Belgium’s Nafissatou Thiam, double Olympic heptathlon champion, broke the pentathlon world record with 5,055 points at the European Indoor Athletics Championships in Istanbul on Friday.

Thiam beat Poland’s Adrianna Sulek, silver medallist, who with 5,014 points also surpassed the previous world record set in 2012 by Ukraine’s Nataliya Dobrinska (5,013 points).

After running 8.23 in the 60 meters hurdles and clearing 1.92m in the high jump, Thiam achieved a personal best of 15.54m in the shot put and jumped 6.59m in the long jump.

In the 800 metres, the 28-years-old athlete clocked a time of 2:13.60, which meant she broke the record with her tally totalling 5,055 points.

Noor Vidts joined her Belgian team-mate on the podium, claiming bronze with a score of 4,823.

Published in Dawn, March 5th, 2023