Three seconds.  

It was the amount of time Anna Hall needed to gap Katarina Johnson-Thompson in the 800m to win a World heptathlon title on Sunday inside the National Athletics Centre in Budapest, Hungary. 

Hall, the two-time U.S. heptathlon champion and two-time NCAA multis winner at Florida, trailed by 43 points to the British leader with one event to go. 

Judging simply by recent PRs, Hall had a realistic shot, as evidenced by her 2:02.97 PR from May. Johnson-Thompson's best was 2:07.26 from 2019. 

But after Hall went out in 58.59 seconds, Johnson-Thompson, the 2019 World champion, wasn't far behind in 60.47. 

The British star never let Hall get away and finished in 2:05.63, a little more than a second and a half behind Hall to win her second World Championship, scoring 6,740 points. 

Hall, who was third in the heptathlon in 2022, finished second with 6,720 points. 

It came down to the FINAL EVENT!

Anna Hall put on a spectacular showing in the 800m in 2:04.09, but it wasn't enough to surpass Katarina Johnson-Thompson ?, who finishes 20 points ahead at 6,740 #WorldAthleticsChamps

Hall ?-- 6,720
Vetter ? -- 6,501

 Getty Images pic.twitter.com/1b06DGEh8E

— FloTrack (@FloTrack) August 20, 2023

Johnson-Thompson and Hall were 200 points out from the next-best competitor, the Netherlands' Anouk Vetter, who scored 6,501 points and finished third. 

The former University of Florida star, however, is seemingly inching closer to gold. Prior to the World Championships, Hall had secured a world lead in the heptathlon with 6,988 points during a meet in Austria in May. She was a pre-event favorite to win the heptathlon on Sunday. 

She ran 12.97 in the 100mH (1,129 points), clocked 23.56 in the 200m (1,023 points) and 2:04.09 in the 800m (1,053)

Hall, a Colorado native and Valor Christian High School graduate, turned pro at this time last year after reaching the podium at the World Championships in Eugene, finishing third in the heptathlon. She signed with adidas.

Hall was a two-time NCAA champion.