“Nafi is already approaching her personal bests and there are still two months until the World Cup”: trainer Van der Plaetsen satisfied with Thiam’s performance in Ratingen | More Sports
Nafi Thiam cannot do this weekend at the Ratingen meeting for a ranking or total score. The Olympic champion mainly wants to know where she stands after three months of training in South Africa. On day one, according to her trainer Michael Van der Plaetsen, she did not disappoint: “She was already close to her personal bests on all tests.”
Gathering information yourself and at the same time not making the competition wiser, that is the goal for Nafi Thiam and her trainer Michael Van der Plaetsen this weekend in Ratingen, a small town not far from Düsseldorf. And so the Olympic champion did not register for the entire heptathlon, but for only five tests – so you avoid a total score that can serve as a reference for pretender Anna Hall. Thiam fit today for the high jump – which is on the agenda in ten days at the Diamond League in Lausanne – and for the 800m tomorrow.
Headwind
Just like in Götzis, where Hall impressed with 6,988 points, the Ratingen meeting is completely geared to the athletes. And so also the time schedule: not an impossible morning hour like at championships, Thiam only had to start her first test around half past twelve: the 100m hurdles. And she immediately won it, with a time of 13.38, 17 hundredths of a second above her personal best (13.21) that she ran at the World Cup last year, but the sixth best time of her career, with a headwind of 0.8 m / s. “You have to take that into account when you assess the time,” said Van der Plaetsen. “But Nafi herself was surprised by her time.” Rightly so, because it is her best season opener since May 2017 (13:34).
The wind (-1.6 m/s) also played its part in the 200m. With her time of 24.45, she was only 8 hundredths below her personal best time, which has been on the tables for four years now. “Without that wind she would have run a PR because she loses some time because of that,” said Van der Plaetsen. “At the end of those 200m I thought she could have kept her form better. But come on, it’s a start. With a bit more competition rhythm in her legs, I can see her running a PR in the 200m this year.” And that will be necessary if she wants to limit the damage that Anna Hall can do at that distance: the American clocked 22.88 in Götzis.
Nafi immediately approaches her personal bests in her first competition, just like she did at the European Indoor Championships in March.
Michael Van der Plaetsen, Trainer Thiam
Between the two running events, Thiam also competed in the shot put. De Namur put a nice regularity in her attempts: 14m91, 15m09 and finally 15m20. That is better than the throws at the World Cup (15m03) and at the European Championship (14m95) in the summer of 2022, but less than her PR of 15m41. In the hall she threw 15m54 at the European Championships in Istanbul – but a title was at stake there. An encouraging result, according to Van der Plaetsen: “There is nothing wrong with starting the season like this. The consistency is there and you can see that there is even more to it. She immediately approaches her personal bests in her first competition, just like she did at the European Indoor Championships in March.”
Tomorrow there are two more tests on the menu for Thiam: long jump in the morning and javelin throw in the afternoon. Van der Plaetsen counts on his athlete continuing on her momentum. He can then adjust his program with that information. “When I see her walking, she is almost at her best level. I still have two months to adjust after that, but it looks good.”
Brother Thomas
Thomas Van der Plaetsen will also take part in Ratingen. He is looking for a decent result in the decathlon so that he can collect points on the world ranking. This is the only way he can hope for a ticket for the World Cup, because the limit of 8,460 points is very sharp – Van der Plaetsen’s personal best has been at 8,430 points since May 2021. In addition, Van der Plaetsen was slowed down three weeks ago by a foot injury, but that would now be under control.
The 32-year-old European champion of 2016 didn’t start his decathlon too well: 11.53, while Tokyo still ran 11.05. “Thomas is one of those typical athletes who doesn’t run well in a headwind (-1.7 m/s)”, said his brother and trainer Michael. ”
In the long jump, athlete Deinze held out after one jump: 7m61. That was enough. The test remains mentally challenging for Thomas Van der Plaetsen: in Tokyo he tore his hamstrings, resulting in a long rehabilitation. He hit the shot 14m08 (PR: 14m72), in the high jump he reached 2m04 (PR: 2m17) and in the 400m he finished in 50.01 (PR: 48.64). Van der Plaetsen is currently sixth in the standings, with 4,095 points.
