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Home / Sport / Olympics

Rio Olympics 2016: The hottest sport at the Olympics

news.com.au
14 Aug, 2016 07:53 PM2 mins to read

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Britain's Jessica Ennis-Hill celebrates after winning the silver medal in the heptathlon at the 2016 Rio Olympics. Photo / AP

Britain's Jessica Ennis-Hill celebrates after winning the silver medal in the heptathlon at the 2016 Rio Olympics. Photo / AP

It is the hottest sport at the Rio Olympics and its athletes added a touch of glamour to the first two days of competition.

As well as being some of the toughest in the world of athletics, the heptathletes double as models and rank among the most marketable in the business.

While the women of the 100m sprint lit up the stadium and Brit 10,000m champ Mo Farah pulled off a miracle to defend his title, the heptathletes were also the talk of the Rio stadium.

They are super fit and their multi-event training keeps them lean and fierce. For the record they have to complete the 100m hurdles, the high jump, a shot put, a long jump, a javelin throw, 800m and 200m.

1. Olympic silver medallist Jessica Ennis-Hill remains the face of British athletics even though she has signalled she will retire at the end of this event. Ennis-Hill is the face of adidas, Omega and Olay.

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2. Anouk Vetter is the current European champion and made her major international debut in 2015 and is quickly attracting the eye of sponsors.

3. Austrian Ivona Dadic is a multi-talented athlete and an underwear and bikini model in her spare time.

4. Nadine Broersen is a world indoor champion and a member of the Nike family.

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5. OK, so you struggle to pronounce her name but Latvian Laura Ikauniece-Admidina has become the face of athletics in her home country after claiming bronze at the world titles in 2015.

6. Nafissatou Thiam is a Belgian heptathlete who rose quickly from novice to serious contender and is already sponsored by Nike.

7. Czech star Eliska Klucinova made headlines during the London Olympics when she changed her underwear mid competition and it was caught on the big screen.

8. Nadine Visser started as a gymnast and footballer but turned to heptathlon and is the face of adidas in her home country of the Netherlands.

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Thiam went on to win the gold medal ahead of crowd favourite Ennis-Hill.

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