Taliyah Brooks, a former Arkansas athlete, earned a share of the bronze medal in the heptathlon at the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo. She achieved a personal record of 6,581 points, moving to eighth place on the all-time U.S. list.
“At first I didn’t even know it was a tie,” Brooks said. “I heard third, banged on the track, then looked up and saw two third placers. I thought they were going to break the tie. I’m happy with the shared bronze.”
Anna Hall from the United States won gold with 6,888 points. Kate O’Conner of Ireland took silver with 6,714 points. Brooks tied for third with Katarina Johnson-Thompson, who was last year’s world champion. Sandrina Sprengel from Germany finished fifth.
“I’m really proud of this one,” Brooks stated. “It’s cool to share the bronze with KJT, who is someone most heptathletes have looked up to for a very long time.
“I’m proud of my day two. I’m proud that it came down to the 800m and I was able to do what needs to be done. So, I’m excited.”
This is the first time since 1987 that U.S. athletes have claimed both gold and bronze in a World Championship heptathlon event. Hall secured her third career gold medal for an American in this event, while Brooks earned her second world bronze medal this season after also medaling at the World Indoor Championships in China.
“It’s crazy, obviously the outdoor one people weigh heavier than the indoor one,” noted Brooks, who had a previous best score of 6,526 points from earlier this year.
Brooks started day two in fifth place but moved into second after recording a career-best long jump of 22-3.5 (6.79 meters), earning 1,102 points—the top mark among competitors—and surpassing her previous wind-legal best from 2018.
“A friend texted me last night and I replied I’m fighting back,” said Brooks. “That was kind of the mood going into today. We’ve been working really hard on the long jump. There have been lots of eyes and information with the long jump. I’m proud I was able to put it together.
“That just carried momentum into the javelin and then the 800m was just you’ve got to give it what you got. I was too close to not do it. That was our mindset. I don’t need a big, long talk. I know what I need to do, I have to hang on and get what I got.”
She followed that performance with another personal best in javelin (142-3/43.37 meters) and completed her heptathlon by running a personal record time of 2:13:17 in the 800 meters.
Brooks’ achievement adds to Arkansas alumni success at these championships; she is now among three Razorbacks earning medals at this meet.
Elsewhere at Worlds, Ayden Owens-Delerme placed third after day one in decathlon standings behind leaders Kyle Garland (USA) and Sander Skotheim (Norway). Four Razorbacks participated in preliminary rounds for relay teams: Nickisha Pryce anchored Jamaica’s women’s squad as they posted a then-world-leading time; Rosey Effiong and Britton Wilson contributed strong splits for Team USA’s winning effort; Chris Bailey ran an impressive opening leg for Team USA men before interference led to an additional runoff being scheduled between Kenya and USA for final qualification.
