“The most important thing, for now, is not to get injured”: Nafi Thiam has several options to qualify for the Paris Olympic Games

The last full heptathlon completed by the gold medalist from Rio (2016) and Tokyo (2021) dates back to the Euro in Munich, on August 18, 2022. However, the qualification period for Paris opened on …December 31, 2022.

Last June, preparing for the Worlds, the athlete trained by Michaël Van der Plaetsen decided to only compete in five of the seven heptathlon events in Ratingen. If she had known…

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In the meantime, unlike the American Anna Hall, the British Katarina Johnson-Thompson and the Dutch Anouk Vetter, three of her main competitors who achieved the minimum, Nafi Thiam is therefore not yet qualified for the Games.

The RFCL member, who can boast of only one (excellent) result in 2023 (5,055 pts, world record, and victory in the Istanbul Euro pentathlon), needs a second to appear in the ranking of the “Road to Paris”.

Michaël Van der Plaetsen looks back on Nafi Thiam’s feat: “She is a total athlete, her control of her body is impressive!”

Having skipped the indoor season, completely secondary given the challenges of the summer, the combined events specialist is very clearly putting all the cards in her game. The continuity in her training in South Africa and her health are its two current priorities.

”As long as you have good health, doing two heptathlons is not a problemshe told us last September. Especially if there is enough time in between. The Games are at the beginning of August, it’s not like it’s at the beginning of July. If we have to do a heptathlon six weeks before, it will be possible.”

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If we count correctly, this means that all options, even the most distant which leads to Ratingen on June 22 and 23, are possible.

This is confirmed by her manager Helena Van der Plaesten, who returns from Stellenbosch: “Nothing can be ruled out at the moment, the financial aspect will play no role. Nafi is training well, she is preparing to do two heptathlons this summer, which is right up her alley. And if the working base is good, everything will be possible. The most important thing right now is not to get hurt.”

With Achilles tendons remaining an important point of attention, it is probably better to give yourself a little leeway without waiting for the end of the qualifying period. Especially since there will be no possible plan B in the event of failure.

An invitation to Rome

The European Championships in Rome, for which Nafi Thiam has an invitation, offer him another opportunity to achieve his minimum on June 7 and 8. But will she be able to wait until then knowing that the pressure will inevitably increase as the weeks go by?

”I don’t think this is such an important parameter. Nafi is confident that she will be able to do a high-level heptathlon before Paris”this Van der Plaetsen.

In Götzis or elsewhere?

Could it be in Götzis, the temple of combined events where she set her record in 2017? The date of the Hypomeeting has been brought forward by one week, to May 18 and 19, compared to usual and this would be the assurance of having opposition but also, undoubtedly, of fighting a first battle …psychological in front of Anna Hall.

Which is not necessarily desirable before the big explanation of the Games. “Nafi is not an athlete who seeks to avoid others. She is above all focused on herself, it is Paris that is important.”

Going back further in the calendar, we then come across two category A meetings: that of Arona (May 11-12), in Tenerife, and that of Desenzano (April 27-28), in Italy. Two meetings popular with “combiners” and which have the advantage of taking place quite early. But other meetings in the United States in April are possibilities.

Just like this track leading to the South African championships organized from April 4 to 6 on the site of the University of… Stellenbosch, where Thiam trains! The competition will be limited but there is, apart from the place on the calendar, a big advantage in the absence of any travel.

”Nafi will study the different options in due course and will then communicate her choice of competition. It won’t be for a few weeks”indique Helena Van der Plaetsen.

Meeting with Nafi Thiam’s managers: “We were so convinced of its success that it was contractually planned”