Anna Hall left it all out on the track Friday in Paris.
Needing a big finish in the 800 meters to have any shot at the heptathlon medal stand, the Colorado native won the race in 2 minutes and 4.39 seconds. But it wasn’t enough to break the top three — in part because her competitors ran personal bests in their efforts to chase her down.
Hall totaled 6,615 points in the women’s heptathlon at the 2024 Paris Olympics, finishing fifth overall and 92 points shy of the medal stand. Belgium’s Nafissatou Thiam cemented her position among the sport’s all-time greats, becoming the first athlete to win the event at the Summer Games three times with 6,880 points.
It may not be the outcome Hall hoped for, but it’s the latest chapter in one of the Summer Games’ better comeback stories.
Hall, who ran at Valor Christian High School, won the heptathlon at the U.S. Olympic trials in June, just six months after knee surgery. At the 2021 trials, she had broken a bone in her left foot during the 100-meter hurdles after clipping a barrier.
Hall had slipped from third in points at the start of the day to fifth heading into the 800, 127 points out of medal contention. Her long jump of 5.93 meters was sixth individually, while her javelin throw was fifth.
In recent months, the multisport star had become one of the major U.S. faces at the Games — something she told The Post she was ready to embrace during her prep for Paris.
“I’ve been really thankful, especially noticing and seeing how my sponsors have gotten behind me, like Xfinity and Comcast, even though they knew, you know, I was going to be there,” Hall said. “I was having surgery and we don’t know how this is going to pan out (in 2024).
“And everyone just kind of kept having faith and was so positive. And then I guess after (the) trials, I was like, ‘Oh, OK, a lot of people are paying attention and care.’
“Yeah, it came as a surprise to me, I guess. But I’m it’s something I don’t take lightly. And I just want to do my absolute best to represent myself, my family, my country, and all my sponsors well in Paris.”
Hall was third in points after the first day of the event. During Thursday’s events, she finished seventh in the hurdles with a 13.36-second time and eighth in the 200 meters with a 23.89 finish. Her best shot put was 14.11, which put her eighth, while her 1.89 high jump was a season-high and good for third overall.
The Coloradan tallied 3,956 points after the opening four events, five better than eventual bronze medal winner Noor Vidts of Belgium and trailing only silver medalist Katarina Johnson-Thompson (4,055) of Great Britain and Thiam (4,007).
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Originally Published: August 9, 2024 at 1:11 p.m.
