Colorado native Anna Hall punched her ticket to Paris on Monday, winning the heptathlon at the U.S. Olympic Team Track & Field Trials and overcoming self-doubt with the help of an all-time great.
Hall, who broke her foot at the 2021 trials and then underwent knee surgery in January, said the comeback trail was a far greater challenge than she had thought it’d be.
“This year has been so hard,” an emotional Hall told NBC Sports moments after her victory in Eugene, Oregon. “Falling in 2021, I just feel like the journey to get here has been so much harder than I ever imagined. I’m just so thankful that we finally made it.”
The glory of Monday’s big win at Hayward Field was a 180 from the dark days of rehab and practice when Hall, 23, said she contemplated quitting the sport she had devoted her life to.
“When I had surgery in January, it was so hard. There were so many days that I left practice defeated,” said the Georgia Bulldog alum. “I thought about quitting and everyone around me was always just like, ‘No, we’re doing this. We can do it.’ And they did that until I started to believe too.”
The last American woman to win Olympic gold in the seven-event challenge was the legendary Jackie Joyner-Kersee, who topped the podium in Barcelona (1992) and Seoul (1988), after winning silver in Los Angeles (1984).
Her glorious Olympics resume includes long jump bronzes in 1992 and 1996 in Atlanta, and a long jump gold in 1988.
Joyner-Kersee, 62, who has been a steady presence in Hall’s life, hugged her victorious mentee on Monday.
“It’s meant the world. She’s been here for everything,” Hall said. “She called me last week and she was like, ‘I’m going to call you every two days until trials (to) make sure your head’s right, you can do this. I’m behind you. You just have to believe.'”
Hall admitted she had no choice but to push through physical pain and self-doubt for fear of letting down her idol.
“She’s just been so supportive,” Hall said. “It’s just been unreal. I need to be strong for her. How is she believing in me and I don’t believe in myself?”
If Hall is to get to the top podium, she’ll probably have to topple two-time defending Olympic champion Nafi Thiam of Belgium and 2023 world champion Katarina Johnson-Thompson of Great Britain.
Thiam missed last year’s world championships with an Achilles injury, opening the door for Katarina Johnson-Thompson to win that title.
Tokyo silver medalist Anouk Vetter of the Netherlands and two-time reigning pentathlon world indoor champ Noor Vidts, also of Belgium, are considered top contenders as well.