Olympics-Athletics-Belgium's Thiam retains heptathlon title

By Amy Tennery

TOKYO (Reuters) -Belgium's Nafi Thiam won her second consecutive gold medal in the Olympic heptathlon on Thursday, dominating in the javelin and the long jump events to secure victory.

The Netherlands' Anouk Vetter and Emma Oosterwegel won the silver and bronze medals respectively.

After ending Wednesday's programme third in the standings, Thiam launched a 54.68m throw in the javelin on her second attempt, her best performance this season, and came up with a 6.60m leap in the long jump before finishing with 6,791 points.

She beat Vetter by 102 points despite finishing seventh in the 800 metres in 2:15.98. Oosterwegel earned 6,590 points overall during the two-day competition.

Thiam, 26, became the first woman since Jackie Joyner-Kersee in 1992 to win back-to-back Olympic heptathlon titles.

Her fellow Belgian Noor Vidts produced a gutsy performance to win her 800m heat in an attempt to get on the podium, finishing more than two seconds ahead of Oosterwegel but ending up fourth in the standings.

The finale was without 2019 world champion Katarina Johnson-Thompson after the Briton's gold medal bid ended on Wednesday due to a calf injury.

(Reporting by Amy Tennery; Editing by Peter Rutherford and Ed Osmond)