Belgian Thiam wins third straight heptathlon gold

PARIS :Belgium's Nafissatou Thiam won her third successive Olympic women's heptathlon gold medal as Britain's Katarina Johnson-Thompson battled to the silver on Friday.

Thiam, the first multi-event athlete in Olympic history to win three titles, scored 6,880 points, overtaking Johnson-Thompson with a huge javelin throw and taking a lead of 121 points on the Briton into the 800m, which was the equivalent of an 8.6-second advantage.

Twice world champion Johnson-Thompson needed the 800 race of her life for gold and although she clocked a career best two minutes 4.90 seconds, it was only enough to finish with 6,844 points.

Belgium's Noor Vidts claimed bronze with a score of 6,707.