WCH Tokyo 25 facts and figures: women's heptathlon

Last three sets of World Athletics Championships medallists

2023 – 1 Katarina Johnson-Thompson (GBR) 6740, 2 Anna Hall (USA) 6720, 3 Anouk Vetter (NED) 6501
2022 – 1 Nafissatou Thiam (BEL) 6947, 2 Anouk Vetter (NED) 6867, 3 Anna Hall (USA) 6755
2019 – 1  Katarina Johnson-Thompson (GBR) 6981, 2 Nafissatou Thiam (BEL) 6677, 3 Verena Preiner (AUT) 6560

Last two sets of Olympic medallists

2024 – 1 Nafissatou Thiam (BEL) 6880, 2 Katarina Johnson-Thompson (GBR) 6844, 3 Noor Vidts (BEL) 6707
2020 – 1 Nafissatou Thiam (BEL) 6791, 2 Anouk Vetter (NED) 6689, 3 Emma Oosterwegel (NED) 6590 

Highest winning marks in World Athletics Championships history:

7128 – Jackie Joyner-Kersee (USA), 1987
7032 – Carolina Klüft (SWE), 2007
7001 – Carolina Klüft (SWE), 2003

Lowest winning mark in World Athletics Championships history

6586 – Hanna Melnychenko (UKR), 2013

Best marks on Japanese soil

7032 1 Carolina Kluft (SWE) - Osaka (World Championships) 26.08.2007
6832 2 Lyudmila Blonska (UKR) - Osaka (World Championships) 26.08.2007
6791 1 Nafissatou Thiam (BEL) - Tokyo (Olympics) 05.08.2021

Best marks on Asian soil

7291 1 Jackie Joyner-Kersee (USA) - Seoul (Olympics) 24.09.1988
7032 1 Carolina Kluft (SWE) - Osaka (World Championships) 26.08.2007
6981 1 Katarina Johnson-Thompson (GBR) - Doha (World Championships) 04.10.2019

Biggest winning margins

564pts 1987 – 7128 Jackie Joyner-Kersee (USA), 6564 Larisa Nikitina (URS)
304pts 2019 – 6981 Katarina Johnson-Thompson (GBR), 6677 Nafissatou Thiam (BEL)
246pts 2003 – 7001 Carolina Klüft (SWE), 6755 Eunice Barber (FRA)

​​Smallest winning margins

20pts 2023 – 6740 Katarina Johnson-Thompson (GBR), 6720 Anna Hall (USA)
40pts 1993 – 6837 Jackie Joyner-Kersee (USA), 6797 Sabine Braun (GER)
52pts 1983 – 6714 Ramona Neubert (GDR), 6662 Sabine Paetz (GDR)

Multiple winners

1987/93 - Jackie Joyner-Kersee (USA)
1991/97 - Sabine Braun (GER)
2003/05/07 - Carolina Kluft (SWE)
2009/11/15 - Jessica Ennis-Hill (GBR)
2017/22 - Nafissatou Thiam (BEL)
2019/13 - Katarina Johnson-Thompson (GBR)

Winners by country

5 - Great Britain
3 - Sweden
2 - United States
2 - Germany
2 - Belgium
1 - German Democratic Republic 
1 - Syria
1 - France
1 - Russia
1 - Ukraine

Five historic facts

• The championship record of 7128 points dates all the way back to 1987 when Jackie Joyner-Kersee won by 564 points
• Great Britain is the most successful nation in this event at the World Championships with five gold medals: three from Jessica Ennis-Hill and two from Katarina Johnson-Thompson
• Johnson-Thompson's winning margin of 20 points was the closest heptathlon competition in World Championships history
• Since 2003 there have only been five world heptathlon champions: Carolina Klüft (2003, 2005, 2007), Ennis-Hill (2009, 2011, 2015), Hanna Melnychenko (2013), Nafissatou Thiam (2017, 2022) and Johnson-Thompson (2019, 2023)
• Thiam's only defeat in a major championships since winning gold at the 2016 Olympics came at the 2019 World Championships in Doha

Potential storylines

• Can Anna Hall (USA) become just the second American winner of this title after world record-holder Jackie-Joyner Kersee?
• Can Thiam or Johnson-Thompson become three-time winners of the world heptathlon title? 
• Thiam is targeting her sixth global heptathlon title since 2016
• Both Thiam and Johnson-Thompson had turbulent experiences in Tokyo at the Olympics. Thiam's coach tested positive for coronavirus and missed the second day and Johnson-Thompson pulled up with a calf injury in the 200m
• Can Saga Vanninen (FIN) become Finland's first medallist in the heptathlon at the World Championships? Satu Ruotsalainen finished fourth in 1991 and Vanninen just broke her national record at the European U23 Championships with 6563
• Can Kate O'Connor (IRL) challenge for a medal? Ireland's six medals in World Championships history have come in either the walks or on the track