“I'm proud of the way I competed, disappointed with the situation” - Anna Hall opens up about her heartbreaking fifth-place finish at Paris Olympics

Anna Hall’s journey at the Paris Olympics came to a heartbreaking end when she missed out on a place on the podium, settling for fifth instead. Now, a few days out from the competition, the American broke down what her performance at the Games meant for her after all the hardships she faced while getting there.

For Hall, a silver medal at the 2023 World Championships made her one of the frontrunners to claim a podium finish in Paris. However, fate had other plans, and the 23-year-old was forced to undergo knee surgery in January, putting her chance of making it to the Olympics in question.

Against all odds, the American worked her way through her injury to get back to her winning ways, claiming gold at the U.S Olympic Trials and subsequently booking a berth for the Games. Unfortunately, an Olympic medal remained out of reach for the heptathlete after she finished fifth in the standings.

Now, in an interview with Athletics Weekly, Anna Hall opened up about how she was unsure of even making it to Paris at a certain point earlier this year, saying,

“There was a while there where I was even worried about getting to the Olympics. Super happy that we did. And I think as soon as I made the team a switch flipped, like okay how can we try to win. And obviously, that's a very aggressive goal.”

She went on to add that she and her team went in with the expectations of winning gold, but while she may not have met that target, she was still proud of the work she had put in.

“I mean that was our expectation and I'm proud of the way I competed, disappointed with the situation. But those are the cards I was dealt. I was heartbroken about that part, but I know I did the best I could.”

“I’m kind of torn between my own disappointment at not meeting my own expectations, but being proud of the year that we had and the work that we put in. So yeah, kind of getting torn back and forth between the two, but I'll process it all soon.”

Anna Hall opens up about her knee injury

Anna Hall discuses her knee injury (Image Source: Getty)

Anna Hall had a stunning season in 2022 and 2023, winning a World Championships bronze in the former, and leveling up to a World Championships silver a year later. With those performances, she became a strong contender to medal in Paris, but a knee injury derailed those plans for the American.

In the same interview, Hall opened up about how she injured her knee, explaining,

“The first time I injured my knee, I slipped on a wet long jump board. From then on, I was a little bit tentative in taking off and then after that we worked through it, and we were feeling better about it.”

While everything had been getting better for the heptathlete, according to Anna Hall, a bad meet in Gainesville right before the Olympics brought back her old fears with the long jump. Additionally, she struggled with some pain while competing in Paris, which only made things worse.

“Funnily enough, the meet before the Olympics, in Gainesville, it was raining, and we decided to do long jump. I took one and I actually slipped on the board, not injured obviously. Then we were like ‘okay, let's shut it down, it's not worth the risk’, but it did make me afraid of the board again.”

“We were working through that in the last few practices, and we'd kind of gotten through it. But by day two (of the Paris Olympics), my knee was talking to me, a significant amount, and that only makes the fear worse.”

For Anna Hall, this isn't her first brush with injury and surgery. Back in 2021, the American had broken a bone in her foot while competing at the U.S Olympic Trials. However, she only came back stronger from that injury, and fans will no doubt be excited to watch her get back to the top of the podium once again.