Audio By Carbonatix
Anna Hall is the best female athlete on the planet right now, not just in track and field. The 24-year-old made her triumphant return to heptathlon with a historic win at the famed Hypo Meeting in Götzis, Austria.
She closed out her victory by running the fastest 800 in history. (In the event!)
Hall competes in multiple track and field events throughout the year but it is the heptathlon where she is the most dominant, at one point ranking No. 1 in the world as a recently as 2023. However, a broken foot prevented her from running at the Olympic trials in 2021 and a fifth-place finish in Paris last summer was an extreme disappointment after knee surgery in January.
This past weekend marked Hall’s first competition in the heptathlon since the frustrating result in France.
It could not have gone much better. Not only did she win, she recorded personal bests in four of the seven events to firmly reestablish her standing as the greatest female athlete in the world right now.
The last heptathlon I did before this broke my heart. But I feel like this heptathlon healed it.
— Anna Hall
Hall finished with a score of 7,032 points on Saturday and Sunday. It was the second-highest score in women’s heptathlon history behind only her mentor, Jackie Joyner-Kersee.
- 100-meter Hurdles — 13.19 seconds (1096 points)
- High Jump — 1.95 meters (1171 points)
- Shot Put — 14.86 meters (852 points)
- 200-meter — 23.37 seconds (1042 points)
- Long Jump — 6.44 meters (988 points)
- Javelin Throw — 46.16 meters (786 points)
- 800-meter — 2:01.23 (1097 points)
Let’s put some of these results into perspective. Her high jump clearance would’ve won her a bronze medal in the singular high jump event at the Olympics.
Her 800-meter time, which is the last event of the entire heptathlon, was the fastest in heptathlon history. 2:01.23 would’ve qualified her for the Repechage round at the Olympics — and that was after she had already finished with the hurdles, high jump, shot put, 200, long jump and javelin.
The race started fast but Hall, running her first 800 of the entire year, was able to grit it out for the win.
I haven’t run an 800m this year so I was a bit scared. I knew I was fit, but I didn’t know how I’d feel in the race. When came through the first lap in 58 seconds, I was like, ‘oh no’. But this is what you train for and thankfully I was able to hold on. I’m really pleased with it.
— Anna Hall
Imagine an 800-meter athlete throwing shot, javelin or doing high jump at the same level. You can’t!
Needless to say, Anna Hall is officially back — and quite literally better than ever.
Her return to competition was a great success. The Hypo Meeting in Götzis is a great sign for what is to come.