Anna Hall becomes first American heptathlon world champion since Jackie Joyner-Kersee

Anna Hall became the first American to win the heptathlon world title since 1993 during Saturday's World Athletic Championships in Tokyo.

The 24-year-old Colorado native won the seven-part event wire-to-wire for her first world title with a final total of 6,888 points, 174 more than Ireland's Kate O'Connor.

Hall's win is the first by an American woman since her mentor, Jackie Joyner-Kersee, did it 32 years ago.

“It means so much,” Hall told NBC Sports afterward. “Ever since I came on the circuit and won my first medal, that’s been something I’ve been trying to do. Jackie and I have talked about it, and we were like, ‘The USA does make great heptathletes.’ It means the world to be able to bring the title back home where it belongs.”

Hall, who placed fifth in the heptathlon at the 2024 Paris Olympics, ended her gold-medal winning performance with an 800m time of 2 minutes, 6.68 seconds to best the rest of the field. A silver and bronze medalist in the last two worlds, she also posted personal bests in the shot put and javelin, while also tying the best high-jump performance and running second in the 200m and third in the 100m hurdles.