Nafi Thiam: “The Memorial is always a celebration!”

It has been three years since Thiam last competed at the Allianz Memorial Van Damme. Last year, she sat in the VIP box at the King Baudouin Stadium after her Olympic triumph in Paris, but actually competing is still much more fun. “The Memorial is always a celebration. The Belgian fans cheer everyone on, but they shout just that little bit louder for the Belgian athletes. My first Memorial was more than ten years ago, and I still have very fond memories. It’s a gift for me to be here and I’m going to try to enjoy it to the fullest again.”

On Wednesday, Thiam was still at the Wanda Diamond League meeting in Lausanne, but the high jump competition was literally a wash-out. “The weather was terrible. It was pouring with rain,” said Thiam, who had to settle for a jump of 1m81. “The wet, slippery track made it impossible to run at full speed in the run-up. So, I haven’t been able to learn much in preparation for the World Championships in Tokyo. Hopefully the weather will be better in Brussels tomorrow evening.”

Spectators at the Allianz Memorial Van Damme will be able to see Thiam in action in the long jump. “It will be my second long jump competition of the year. At the Belgian Championships earlier this month, I jumped 6m48. I was very happy with that. But I never set a time or distance as my goal. We’ll see what tomorrow brings. I always try to give my best, wherever I am. Looking ahead to Tokyo, it’s especially important that my run-up is perfect. And for the rest, I want to enjoy the atmosphere and the home crowd as much as possible.”

Thiam, who trains in South Africa for most of the year, is not thinking about retiring yet. “My big goal is to score over 7000 points in the heptathlon once and to break the European record. Maybe I’ll succeed, maybe I won’t. At the end of my career, I will at least be able to say that I tried everything to achieve that,” says Thiam matter-of-factly.