Aussie heptathlon star Tori West says she’s ‘dumbfounded’ after disappointing Olympics

Aussie Olympian Tori West says she’s still searching for answers from herself after a disappointing performance at the Paris Olympics.

Aussie Olympian Tori West says she’s still searching for answers from herself after a disappointing performance at the Paris Olympics.

The 28-year-old astonished and disheartened by her result in the women’s hepathlon, admitting she fell far below her own expectations after training relentlessly for years.

West placed 20th out of 21 finishers, netting a total of 5848 points. The only competitor who ranked below her was America’s Chari Hawkins.

The gold medal was won by Belgium’s Nafissatou Thiam, who scored 6880 points, finishing a grand total of 1032 points ahead of the Aussie.

On social media, West expressed her gratitude for the support she received and shared her mixed emotions about the experience, describing it as an incredible but gruelling journey.

“Thank you everyone for your messages of support. I’m still processing this experience,” she said.

“It was a true privilege to represent my country and the people that believe in me. I’m grateful for the experience. It was truly incredible.

“Five heptathlons in five months in five different countries this year has been an exceptionally large endeavour.”

She said he was hitting “ridiculous PBs” in the lead-up to Paris and was preparing to blitz at least some of the field in the challenging multi-discipline event.

She had competed in five heptathlons across five different countries in the months prior, with scores of 6079, 6245, 5950, 6235, and 5848.

Aussie Olympian Tori West says she’s still searching for answers from herself after a disappointing performance at the Paris Olympics.

She said he was hitting ‘ridiculous PBs’ in the lead-up to Paris and was preparing to blitz at least some of the field in the challenging multi-discipline event.

“I am disappointed and a little dumbfounded I wasn’t able to lift at the Olympics — the final and most important one,” she continued.

“I hold myself to a high standard and this performance was honestly unexpected. I wanted more. I did the work. Was not injured. But wasn’t able to deliver.

“After securing qualification in June I put together the best training block of my career in Poland. Completely focused with time off work in an elite training environment.

“Two weeks ago I ticked all the major boxes and hitting ridiculous PBs across the board.

“However, somewhere in the taper process I failed to recognise the energy impact of such a big season, travel and event magnitude.”

“Peaking for heptathlons is an art. And I didn’t hit it this time. Upon reflection, there were key lessons to be learned.

“Now it’s time for a solid break and my first proper off season in four years.”

She also hinted that her extensive workload in the lead-up to hitting the track may have contributed to her performance.

“I’ve done 10 heptathlons in 20 months. That’s crazy.

“Time to recover hard and recalibrate for less heptathlons with bigger scores in 2025.

“Thank you to my coaching team Eric Brown and Sam Leslie. We almost pulled off the ultimate, but heck, getting here like we did was a massive achievement in itself. So we rest in that, and pivot for bigger moments to come.”