Olympics: Women's Heptathlon

Women’s Heptathlon

Event One: 100m 8:35 AM Friday, August 12^th

Event Two: High Jump 9:50 AM Friday, August 12^th

Event Three: Shot Put 7:35 PM Friday, August 12^th

Event Four: 200m 9:04 PM Friday, August 12^th

Event Five: Long Jump 10:45 AM Saturday, August 13^th

Event Six (Section A): Javelin Throw 7:00 PM Saturday, August 13^th

Event Six (Section B): Javelin Throw 8:15 PM Saturday, August 13^th

Event Seven: 800m 9:53 PM Saturday, August 13^th

World Record: Jackie Joyner-Kersee (USA) 7291 Points, 1988

Best Mark Past 10 Years: Carolina Kluft (Sweden) 7032 Points, 2007

Olympic Record: Jackie Joyner-Kersee (USA) 7291 Points, 1988

A Standard: 6200

2012 Olympic Medalists

Jessica Ennis-Hill (Great Britain) 6955, Lilli Schwarzkopf (Germany) 6649, Tatyana Chernova (Russia) 6628

2015 World Championship Medalists

Jessica Ennis-Hill (Great Britain) 6669, Brianne Theisen Eaton (Canada) 6554, Laura Ikaniece-Admidna (Latvia) 6516

2016 World Leaders

Brianne Theisen Eaton (Canada) 6765, Jessica Ennis-Hill (Great Britain) 6733, Anouk Vetter (Netherlands) 6626

Team USA

Barbara Nwaba, 27 (6500/6494) Heather Miller-Koch, 29 (6423/6423) Kendell Williams, 21 (6402/6402)

In case you haven’t picked up on this, I’m a distance runner and my main focus is on those races. I don’t really understand the multis all that much. But I think they are the coolest events around and I will be doing everything I can to follow all 17 multi events in Rio (10 for the Dec, 7 for the Hep).

The queen of the heptathlon has been Jessica Ennis-Hill of Great Britain. She is the defending world and Olympic champion, setting a British record four years ago with a fantastic 6955 (top 5 all time). She was able to win the title a year ago, even after time away for her first child. But in recent years, while Hill has continued to dominate, Brianne Theisen Eaton has relentlessly pursued the throne. Eaton (wife of decathlon world record holder Ashton) was 2^nd in 2013 and 2015 at worlds. Indoors she was a silver medalist in the Pentathlon at the 2014 championships. Then, in Portland, it looked like she would end with silver once again before a fantastic final 800 got her the gold. Perhaps that was the breakthrough she needed to finally conquer the rest of the world in the Hep.

Among the other contenders are world bronze medalist Laura Ikaniece-Admidna of Latvia and Anouk Vetter of the Netherlands. Both woman have gotten scores above 6600 within the qualifying window. The top sleeper pick (if you can call her that) is Katrina Johnson-Thompson of Great Britain. First, she has a fantastic name. Second, she has a PR of 6682 in 2014 and would have been a medal contender for sure in Beijing but ended up with a dread no mark in the Long Jump (easily one of her best events, she’s jumped a world class 6.92m). Johnson-Thompson is just 23 years old.

The USA squad each has produced over 6400 points in the Hep this season, including collegiate stand out Kendell Williams of Georgia. Barbara Nwaba is the most experienced of the US contingent. She produced her personal best last year at the US championships but suffered a spill in Beijing for Worlds that cost her valuable points and pushed her way down the rankings. She will hope to avenge that this season and maybe break into the top 5-10 spots. Miller-Koch was a surprise to me, busting onto the squad at the Olympic Trials with a big PR. She will need to find a way to recapture that magic to contend for a top spot in this event. For Williams, this could be a great learning opportunity. She is one of the future stars of this event for team USA.

My picks all have two last names. Maybe that’s the secret. Does that mean Heather Miller-Koch is going to be our best USA competitor?

1.      Theisen Eaton, 2. Ennis-Hill, 3. Johnson-Thompson