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Simon Ehammer is on course to not only regain his world heptathlon title, but to surpass the world record of 6645 at the World Athletics Indoor Championships Kujawy Pomorze 26.
Ehammer, the world indoor gold medallist in 2024 and silver medallist last year, got off to a flying start in the opening discipline, speeding to a 60m PB of 6.69 – comfortably the quickest of the day. The next nine athletes posted times between 6.91 and 7.00, and USA’s world bronze medallist Kyle Garland was among those, running 6.93.
Ehammer extended his overall lead in the long jump, his best discipline and the event in which he earned world bronze in 2022. He opened with 8.08m, followed it with 7.99m and then improved to 8.15m – just one centimetre shy of the championship best performance.
Garland was the second-best performer in that discipline but, as was the case in the 60m, was some way behind Ehammer. The US athlete jumped 7.58m to move into second place overall.
Garland made inroads on Ehammer’s lead in the shot put, throwing 16.21m to the Swiss athlete’s 14.87m. Estonai’s Rasmus Rooseleht was the best overall performer in that event, unleashing a season’s best of 16.44m.
Ehammer continued his good form and maintained his overall lead after clearing a season’s best of 2.02m in the high jump, giving him a day-one tally of 3698. Garland continued to apply pressure with a 2.14m clearance in the high jump.
Ehammer started the second day in even better form than the first, flying to a world heptathlon best of 7.52 in the 60m hurdles – a time that would have been good enough to take silver in that discipline at last year’s World Indoors. Garland was some way off his best, though, and clocked 8.21.
The gaps widened in the pole vault as Ehammer soared over 5.30m, putting him on schedule to break Ashton Eaton’s world heptathlon record of 6645. A 2:43.26 clocking in the 1000m will be sufficient to surpass Eaton’s mark.
Garland slipped to a third after clearing 4.80m in the pole vault. Compatriot Heath Baldwin vaulted 5.00m to move into second place overall. A 5.10m vault moved Czechia’s Vilem Strasky up to fourth place overall.
Jon Mulkeen for World Athletics
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