PARIS, Aug. 9 (Xinhua) -- Belgium's Nafissatou Thiam secured her third straight Olympic heptathlon title at the Paris Games on Friday.
The 29-year-old amassed 6,880 points in the two-day event to finish 36 points ahead of Britain's Katarina Johnson-Thompson, who took silver.
Thiam's compatriot Noor Vidts claimed bronze with 6,707 points.
"I don't think I can describe it," Thiam said. "It's a mix of everything that I've lived. I could use a thousand words. If you didn't live every single day with me for the past two, three, four years, you couldn't understand what I feel right now. But it's unique, and I think that the main feeling is pride. I'm very proud of myself, and I'm grateful."
Thiam attributed her dominance in the discipline to years of hard work, which she said had taken a physical and mental toll.
"I feel very special," she said. "It's the first thing that everybody told me in interviews. I didn't cross that line and think that I made history. I thought all this pain, hard work, sacrifice, all those moments where I felt lonely. All that pain, all that hard work, all of that paid off and I'm really grateful for that.
She added: "As I always say, in sports you give everything you have, you need to, in every moment. But you have to take whatever the sport gives you, and it can be nothing. Today it's a lot, and I'm grateful for that."
