Santa Barbara’s Barbara Nwaba came in 12th place and finished as the top American in the heptathlon at the Rio Olympics on Saturday.
In a down-to-the-wire finish for the gold medal, Belgium’s Nafissatou Thiam edged defending champion Jessica Ennis-Hill by running fast enough in the 800 meters, the final event of the seven-event, two-day competition.
Nafissatou ran 2:16.54 to score 871 points and finished with a total of 6,810 points. Hill scored 6,775 points after tallying 978 for her clocking of 2:09.07.
Brianne Theisen-Eaton, who trains in Santa Barbara part-time, made a huge jump in the standings and earned a Bronze medal, her first Olympic medal. She finished with 6,653 points after running a 2:09.50 in the 800 meters for 972 points.
Nwaba tallied 6,309 points in her first Olympic Games. The ABEO/Santa Barbara Track Club member and UCSB alum won her heat in the 800 in 2:11.61 (941 points), edging Hungary’s Gyorgyi Zsivoczky-Farkas who ran 2:11.76 (939 points).
Nwaba’s overall score was the best by an American. Kendall Williams and Heather Miller-Koch would finish 17th (6,221points) and 18th (6,213), respectively.
In 11th place after the first four events, Nwaba started her second day of competition with a long jump of 19-0.75 (792 points). In the javelin, her best mark was 153-9 (799 points), which allowed her to move from 16th to 14th position in the overall standings.
She improved two more spots after posting the seventh best time in the 800.
— Noozhawk sports editor Barry Punzal can be reached at bpunzal@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk Sports on Twitter: @NoozhawkSports. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.