{"id":1040006124,"date":"2025-07-03T07:04:22","date_gmt":"2025-07-03T06:04:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/athleticsweekly.com\/?p=1040002408"},"modified":"2025-07-31T11:39:30","modified_gmt":"2025-07-31T10:39:30","slug":"anna-hall-im-not-fighting-myself-any-more","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/athleticsweekly.com\/news\/anna-hall-im-not-fighting-myself-any-more-1040006124\/","title":{"rendered":"Anna Hall: \u201cI\u2019m not fighting myself any more\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"

After Olympic heartache in Paris, Anna Hall has been learning to fall in love with the heptathlon again<\/span><\/p>\n

There was a delay of a couple of days but, as the dust settled, the tears came. After announcing that she was undoubtedly back to her best \u2013 producing the joint second-highest heptathlon score in history at the Hypomeeting in G\u00f6tzis \u2013 Anna Hall couldn\u2019t keep her emotions in check any longer.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAny time I've made a big breakthrough, it takes my brain a while to almost catch up to the level that I'm at,\u201d she says. \u201cBut it did start to sink in and I got emotional a few days after. It was a really special weekend.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The performance meant so much because the American has been through so much since slipping on a long jump board in the lead-up to the World Championships two summers ago. Back then, she had just fully burst on to the world heptathlon scene.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

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Yes, at the age of 21, she had become NCAA champion and also won a world bronze on home turf at Eugene 2022, but a performance of 6988 in G\u00f6tzis a year later not only secured victory but underlined her credentials as a talent to really be reckoned with. Her second national title followed and everything seemed to be lining up for an attack on a maiden global gold in Budapest.<\/span><\/p>\n

Around four weeks out from those world championships, however, came that long jump mishap that resulted in \u201ca small tear\u201d in Hall\u2019s PCO \u2013 the Posterior Condylar Offset that helps flexion and stability of the knee. The damage wasn\u2019t bad enough to keep her from competing in Hungary, where she finished runner-up after a memorable battle with Britain\u2019s Katarina Johnson-Thompson. However, looking back, it marked the beginning of some long-term troubles.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Anna Hall (Bjorn Paree)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cWhen we finished Budapest, we took time off, did rehab, all of that stuff. But my knee just kept hurting. It kept swelling,\u201d explains Hall. \u201cI think from all we had done, with my knee constantly being inflamed, it did a lot of damage to the cartilage in my knee. So when I got another MRI [in December 2023], it looked like somebody had taken a knife to all the cartilage in my knee, and I had a stress fracture in my patella from when I would jump. Where there's no cartilage, my femur was hitting the back of my kneecap, so that was causing all the swelling and pain.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Surgery was needed and, though she is now pain-free, that was certainly not the case as Hall tried to qualify for her first Olympics last year.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

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\u201cIt was so stressful,\u201d she adds. \u201cI didn't really realise how bad it was until the Olympic trials were over, because then I was like: \u2018Oh, I can sleep\u2019. In the previous six months, I'd wake up in the middle of the night and be up all night thinking: \u2018How am I going to figure out how to run the hurdles well again?\u2019 And that's just not normal. It's not healthy. Looking back to this time last year, we were in full panic mode. I didn't even think I was going to be on the team and, pain-wise, we were definitely doing things before my body was ready to do them.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe were being safe, but when your body's not ready to do it it's going to hurt, it's going to swell and we were constantly battling that.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The pain levels meant Hall could not jump \u201cback to back days\u201d and every six weeks she would receive injections of Hyaluronic acid, a natural substance which acts as a cushion and a lubricant in the joints. \u201cI was on pain medication every time I had to high jump,\u201d she says. \u201cIt was really just a mess. It was terrible.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Hall did ultimately make the Paris start line, but it hadn\u2019t exactly been the perfect build-up. Her fifth-place finish left mixed feelings, too.<\/span><\/p>

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Anna Hall (Grand Slam Track)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cI'm proud that I got there, I'm proud that I competed hard,\u201d she says. \u201cBut, on the other hand, my knee was strong enough to get through seven events, so I think I should have been able to compete for the podium and I didn't. It's a little bit of a failure as well, so I think it's just making peace with that.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI can think that I should have done better, but also I'm proud of the fact that I got there at all and, looking forward, it definitely taught me a lot about my body.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The whole process was instructive when it came to Hall\u2019s mental resilience, too. The scars left by that knee injury were not just physical.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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Anna Hall (Getty)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cI stopped having pain a while ago \u2013 December, January, time \u2013 and it was like: \u2018Okay, now we're able to train at the level we need to without pain, swelling, all those things\u2019,\u201d she says. \u201cBut, even after that, it was still in my head and it was lingering. I didn't feel like the same athlete any more and I think I honestly didn't snap out of that until the high jump at G\u00f6tzis.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Hall and her coaching team had headed to the event with expectations of something solid rather than spectacular. \u201cMy coach and I had talked about 6750,\u201d she says. A meeting record \u2013 and becoming just the fifth member of the 7000 club \u2013 was certainly not on the agenda.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In the lead-up, Hall had been \u201cstarting to see glimpses of myself, but I still didn't feel like me\u201d. Stepping out in front of a crowd which is famously absorbed in every run, jump and throw helped but, after a 100m hurdles run of 13.19 to start with, it was a high jump PB of 1.95m that flicked the switch.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Anna Hall (Getty)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cBefore injury it was very much in my wheelhouse to pull out a big PR in front of a big crowd in a big moment and so, when I did that, I was like: \u2018Okay, we're back\u2019,\u201d she smiles.<\/span><\/p>\n

Another PB of 14.86m followed in the shot put before Hall ended day one with 23.37 in the 200m. Day two began with a 6.44m long jump, then a 46.16m javelin PB, before storming home with a 2:01.23 800m PB to complete the job.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt felt so good and it gave me so much confidence because I've had to learn so much about my body in the times when it wasn't doing what I was asking it to do and now I'm not fighting myself any more,\u201d she says. \u201c[Now it\u2019s the case that] this is going to be so easy, because I've had to figure out how to still throw the shot put far with technique when my body doesn't want to, and I've had to figure out how to do these things when I don't feel good. But then I was like: \u2018I'm explosive again. My body's responding and now I have all of this technical background that I've been working and working and working at\u2019. It made me feel indestructible. I was like: \u2018I can't lose\u2019.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

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KJT and Anna Hall embrace (Getty)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

That freedom laid the platform for Hall's G\u00f6tzis brilliance, a performance that attracted some high praise from high places. Consider this social media post from America\u2019s two-time decathlon Olympic champion and former world record-holder Ashton Eaton, for example.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cPound for pound, Anna Hall might be one of the best athletes on earth right now,\u201d he wrote.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Those comments didn\u2019t escape Hall\u2019s attention, so how did they make her feel?<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAny time Ashton Eaton opens his mouth about anything related to the multi-events, especially me, I'm going to listen,\u201d she says. \u201cBut, honestly, with that comment I was just like: \u2018Okay, slow down\u2019. It was definitely very nice to see, and I was very flattered, but I was like: \u2018I've got a lot to do before I earn that title\u2019. But this was definitely a good start.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

There is likely to be more hype following this young woman throughout another Olympic cycle that will come to a head in Los Angeles in 2028 and Hall freely admits those Games are \u201cdefinitely on my mind\u201d. Any post-Paris trepidation has been replaced by keen anticipation about what lies ahead, however.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAt LA I'll be 27 and most people's best scores or records have been set the year that they were 27 so hopefully that is speaking something into existence,\u201d she adds. \u201cI'm super excited to have a Games at home and I think, knowing what I know now, and having been there at the Olympics before, I am excited about having three years to prepare and truly step into LA knowing that I'm ready.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIf there's one thing America loves, it is winners so I think, for the greater good of track and field, maybe everyone should hope that Team USA has a strong showing in LA, because I think that will really resonate with the American audience.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

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Anna Hall (Getty)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Should Hall fulfil her aspirations, it would make her the first American to land the Olympic heptathlon gold since Jackie Joyner-Kersee, who also set what remains the world record of 7291, at the Seoul Games of 1988. Javelin specifications have been changed in the intervening years, making it an even harder target to hit, and though Hall believes she may well be capable of achieving it, she won\u2019t be rushing any attempts to succeed a woman who has become a friend as well as a mentor.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe are very close and I'm very, very thankful for that relationship,\u201d says Hall. \u201cWe text a lot and she texted me before the heptathlon [in G\u00f6tzis]. Then she called my coach so that I could talk to her before the awards presentation.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe heptathlon is traditionally won by Europeans and she's like: \u2018You go and prove to them that America makes heptathletes\u2019. That's something that we've bonded over, and hopefully I can do right by her and help bring a heptathlon gold back to the States.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI want to [break the world record] as much as everyone else wants to see it, but me focusing on that all the time is not going to help us get there the same way. It might happen on its own, but I'm definitely not going to be chasing it down any faster just because it's something that the media wants to see.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt's going to take a lot of development from me in a lot of events and I just know that that takes time. I think I'm capable, but it takes time. It takes the perfect day, it takes the right conditions and a little bit of luck.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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Anna Hall (Getty)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The mind of a heptathlete can be a busy place. Having seven disciplines to worry about means there are seven lots of cues, seven lots of processes and seven lots of techniques to consider alongside the inevitable ups and downs of a competition that takes two days to complete.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

With so much to think about, then, Hall finds it useful to let her journal take some of the strain. \u201cI write down three things that I can focus on in each event,\u201d she says. \u201cThose are the three things that I know: \u2018If you do those things, it will go well\u2019, and that helps me focus those.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI spend all morning of day one thinking about the 100m hurdles [the heptathlon\u2019s opening discipline], and then you might just forget whatever cue you are going to think about for the high jump by the time you're through your hurdles warm-up. I don't want to be just at the whim of my memory and remembering cues, so it's very helpful to write those down. In between each event, I take a look at that, and I relook at it like: \u2018What am I trying to do in this event to stay centred?\u2019\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

She adds: \u201cThe type of athlete that I am is pretty creative. I'm very much a feel person. I could be physically ready to do something, but if I don't have the feel of it then it's very hard for me to put it together. Every event for me, there's a rhythmic flow to it. There are words I say to myself or a certain tempo [I\u2019m looking for].<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI'm not sure that everybody views every event as rhythmically as I do. I count everything, so in my high jump approach, I say: \u2018One, two, turn, go left, right, left\u2019. And I say that to myself every single time. There's a certain tempo in my head.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI do that in the long jump. I do that in the hurdles and all these events where most people, I think, don't necessarily have time, or take the time, to count what's going on. But, for me, it's very repeatable. Once I work out the tempo of whatever is a good jump and whatever is correct, then I know it's in my brain for good.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe biggest thing the journal does is let me pick which thoughts to listen to. I'm not going to write down: \u2018The long jump is terrifying, I don't want to take off\u2019. I'm writing down things like: \u2018My knee is strong enough to do it. I know how to do this\u2019, and those types of things. I'm having both [negative and positive] thoughts in my head but I think it helps me definitively say: \u2018I'm choosing these thoughts instead of those\u2019, which I think is why it's very powerful.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

There was power, too, in the performance that brought those tears.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cComing off the Olympics, I was so heartbroken and I definitely had that post-Olympics comedown where I was just kind of sad all the time and training was hard,\u201d says Hall. \u201cI went to practice every day, did everything I was supposed to do, but I just wasn't excited about it any more. I was wondering: \u2018Is my knee going to hurt forever? And am I ever going like this again?\u2019\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cNow I have the final answer to both of those things. \u2018You <\/span>will<\/span><\/i> enjoy this again\u2019, and \u2018your knee will <\/span>not<\/span><\/i> hurt forever\u2019. There were definitely a few months where I couldn't have seen this happen at all.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt taught me a lot about my toughness as an athlete and I think scoring 7000 points \u2018by accident\u2019 has also taught me where I should be a little bit more careful, because if we're just healthy, we'll be okay.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

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Jackie Joyner-Kersee (Mark Shearman)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The 7000 club<\/strong><\/p>\n

7291 Jackie Joyner-Kersee (USA)\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Seoul, Sept 24, 1988<\/span><\/p>\n

(12.69\/+0.8 - 1.86m - 15.80m - 22.56\/+1.6 \/ 7.27m\/+0.7 - 45.66m - 2:08.51 )<\/span><\/p>\n

7032 Carolina Kl\u00fcft (SWE)\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Osaka, August 26, 2007<\/span><\/p>\n

(13.15\/+0.1 - 1.95m - 14.81m - 23.38\/+0.3 \/ 6.85m\/+1.0 - 47.98m - 2:12.56 )<\/span><\/p>\n

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Carolina Kl\u00fcft<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

7032 Anna Hall (USA)\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

G\u00f6tzis, June 1, 2025<\/span><\/p>\n

(13.19\/-1.0 - 1.95m - 14.86m - 23.37\/+0.5 \/ 6.44m\/-0.1 - 46.16m - 2:01.23)<\/span><\/p>\n

7013 Nafissatou Thiam (BEL)<\/strong><\/p>\n

G\u00f6tzis, May 28, 2017<\/span><\/p>\n

(13.34\/-0.7 - 1.98m - 14.51m - 24.40\/-1.6 \/ 6.56m\/+0.8 - 59.32m - 2:15.24)<\/span><\/p>\n

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Nafi Thiam (Getty)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

7007 Larisa Nikitina (URS)<\/strong><\/p>\n

Bryansk, June 11, 1989<\/span><\/p>\n

(13.40\/+1.4 - 1.89m - 16.45m - 23.97\/+1.1 \/ 6.73m\/+4.0 - 53.94m - 2:15.31)<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

After Olympic heartache in Paris, Anna Hall has been learning to fall in love with the heptathlon again<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":221674,"featured_media":1040006424,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_searchwp_excluded":"","inline_featured_image":false,"wds_primary_category":0,"wds_primary_championship":0,"wds_primary_country":0,"wds_primary_sports":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[],"championship":[],"country":[],"sports":[36003,36006],"class_list":["post-1040006124","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","sports-combined-events","sports-heptathlon"],"acf":[],"parsely":{"version":"1.1.0","canonical_url":"https:\/\/athleticsweekly.com\/news\/anna-hall-im-not-fighting-myself-any-more-1040006124\/","smart_links":{"inbound":0,"outbound":0},"traffic_boost_suggestions_count":0,"meta":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","headline":"Anna Hall: \u201cI\u2019m not fighting myself any more\u201d","url":"http:\/\/athleticsweekly.com\/news\/anna-hall-im-not-fighting-myself-any-more-1040006124\/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"http:\/\/athleticsweekly.com\/news\/anna-hall-im-not-fighting-myself-any-more-1040006124\/"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/athleticsweekly.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/Anna-Hall-wins-2-200x300.jpg","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https:\/\/athleticsweekly.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/Anna-Hall-wins-2.jpg"},"articleSection":"News","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Euan Crumley"}],"creator":["Euan Crumley"],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Athletics Weekly","logo":"https:\/\/athleticsweekly.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/AW-logo_with-website.png"},"keywords":[],"dateCreated":"2025-07-03T06:04:22Z","datePublished":"2025-07-03T06:04:22Z","dateModified":"2025-07-31T10:39:30Z"},"rendered":"