Wichita Falls Native Taliyah Brooks Shines in Olympic Heptathlon

Wichita Falls native Taliyah Brooks is making waves in her Olympic debut as she competes in the women’s heptathlon. Starting strong, Brooks clocked an impressive 13 seconds flat in the 100-meter hurdles, landing her the second-best time among the competitors and securing 1,124 points.

Despite having the best start in her heat, Brooks clipped the sixth hurdle, which allowed Sweden’s Annik Kaelin to speed past her. Kaelin ended up taking the top spot in the hurdles with a time of 12.87 seconds.

After the hurdles event, Brooks moved on to the high jump where she cleared a height of 1.77 meters. This impressive jump added another 941 points to her tally, bringing her overall score to 2,065 points after two events. At this point, Brooks was tied for the eighth-best high jump out of 23 competitors.

As the competition unfolded, Brooks found herself sitting in sixth place overall, with updates on standings expected as the high jump was still in progress.

Fans and supporters are keeping a close eye on Brooks, who graduated from Rider in 2014. The excitement doesn’t stop there; the heptathlon continues with more events lined up including shot put and the 200 meters on Thursday, and then the javelin throw and 800 meters on Friday.