How Nafi Thiam went from her ‘dark place’ to the light of a historic Olympics

(CNN) — Even for the most successful heptathlete in Olympic history, the stresses and strains of a survival of the fittest-type competition are plain to see.

Seven disciplines crammed into the space of two tightly contested days where fine margins count for everything and yet nothing at the same time.

A meter in the javelin. A centimeter in the high jump. Less than a second in the 800m.

Margins that separate the good from the great and the greats from the legendary.

With her third consecutive gold medal achieved at the Paris Games, Belgium’s Nafissatou Thiam now slots into her own bespoke mold of greatness.

“For 48 hours, my heart was like bouncing like crazy,” Thiam tells CNN Sport’s Amanda Davies.

“I was trying to keep everything under control and being able to cross that line and know that I have done it was really a great relief.”

The path, though to this latest, historic golden triumph – becoming the first multi-event athlete in Olympic history to win three titles – has been far from straightforward.

‘I had to go to some dark places’

When looking at the Belgian’s record prior to October 2022, one would marvel in awe at the list of achievements.

Back-to-back Olympic champion, two-time world champion and two-time European champion – an athlete a cut above her rivals basking in a golden period of dominance.

Yet a decision in October 2022 would change everything.

“The biggest decision for me was to leave the environment I grew up in for 14 years,” she says in reference to her split with long-term coach and former Belgian decathlete Roger Lespagnard.

“From the time I was 14 years old until 28 years old, I’ve been training with the same team, same track, same group and I think for a lot of people that decision was hard to understand because I was still successful.

“I knew for me that was what I needed to do to be able to keep evolving and, most importantly, keep enjoying my sports.”

The split with her coach was followed by another blow – missing the opportunity to defend her world title in Budapest in 2023 with an achilles tendon injury.

But change can be a double-edged sword – some thrive and flourish; others wilt and wither.

For Thiam, it was the former.

It was seen by her as a life-changing decision to continue evolving on her path of growth – which first began at the Rio 2016 Games – to becoming a better athlete who could challenge norms and redefine what could be possible in her field of sport.

“My first Games were in Rio and so many things happened from there. I really had a lot of ups and downs physically and mentally. I think you really learn from that,” she explains to CNN.

“Then I had to grow to go through that to be able to get to this place. Being able to walk away from Paris with a gold medal I really had to go to some dark places.

“I think it’s also maybe a mindset and I think that’s something I realized more and more lately. You have to take tough decisions, hard decisions.

“If you want to do something exceptional, you have to think out of the box and probably not do what everybody else is doing.”

‘I’m not done yet’

Diverting from the status quo has brought about a renewed sense of belief, purpose and nostalgia not only for what has come before but for what still lies ahead.

So how does the soon-to-be 30-year-old reflect on the Thiam of 2016 compared to the 2024 version?

“I think I just grew up – I was 21 years old and I got into Rio with way less pressure than when I walked here in Paris,” she says smiling.

“There are so many pressures and I just sometimes want to go back to that place and remember that that’s just really what I do to have fun.

“I feel like Rio was just yesterday […] I really realized that those moments are so precious, and when I was on the track (in Paris), I was really trying to take it in because it’s going to go so fast. And soon, it’s going to be just a memory, a beautiful memory, but just a memory, so I just try to live the moments.”

Thiam knows, though, that as the competition behind her continues to grow and develop in a bid to catch up and surpass her superlative powers, those moments must be savored.

In Paris, defending world champion Katarina Johnson-Thompson of Great Britain was breathing down her neck from the outset.

It was neck and neck right up until the final discipline – 800m – with the Belgian eventually winning her latest Olympic title by just 36 points in the overall standings: 6880 to 6844.

The only time Thiam has had a smaller winning margin was when she won her maiden Olympic gold in Rio 2016, winning by just 35 points over another Brit in Jessica Ennis-Hill.

Unfinished business

If, though, the body is willing then so too is the mind, and for that reason, she isn’t considering hanging up her spikes any time soon.

“Everybody’s coming every day closer to the end of their career. I think I’m not done yet. I’m an Olympic champion. I’m doing great at the moment,” she laughs.

“I think I still can do more, so I’m definitely not thinking about retiring right now.

“My main goal, I always said, was to be the best athlete I can possibly be. I’m not there yet. I need to put everything together. But I’m working on it.

“I’m sure I can do better. I feel like there is some unfinished business, and I think to be really able to walk away from the sport in peace, I have to go as far as I can to try everything before being done.”

So what does the unfinished business look like for the seemingly untouchable Belgian?

“I think I don’t have so much pressure on the medal side anymore,” she says.

“I know I can do a really big score. It’s not easy to have that run to put everything together. I would love to do that, so I think I’m going to try to focus on that.

“In sport, nothing is ever guaranteed. Everybody knows that you work hard and you take what the sports gives you back. It has given me so, so much already, but maybe I can get a little bit more.”

For now, though, focusing on the present, Paris offers Thiam a brief moment of reflection before a potential new Olympic cycle begins ahead of the 2028 Games in Los Angeles.

If the current cycle was once defined by change, it was one that was ultimately done on her terms and with an ending that proved the sacrifice was worth it.

“I will remember Paris as really doing this for me. Being able to live my career and do my preparation as I really wanted to and not doing it for anybody else. I think that makes a major difference.”

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