On the second morning of action in Toruń, the Swiss star moves firmly within reach of a historic mark.
Switzerland’s Simon Ehammer is on the brink of something special at the World Indoor Championships in Toruń, producing a performance that has put the heptathlon world record firmly within reach.
After building a first-day total of 3698 points to take control of the standings, Ehammer returned for day two (March 21) in emphatic fashion.
He set the tone immediately in the 60m hurdles, clocking a stunning 7.52 to break the world heptathlon best. In doing so, he bettered the long-standing mark set by Ashton Eaton by 0.08 seconds, surging to 4804 points overall.
The pole vault proved pivotal. With the pressure mounting, Ehammer delivered when it mattered most, clearing a season’s best of 5.30m on his third attempt to stay on course.
Although he was unable to progress beyond 5.40m, two unsuccessful efforts there did little to derail his momentum, and he closed the sixth event with 5808 points.
Eaton’s world record of 6645 points, set in 2012, remains the target. With just the 1000m separating Ehammer from history, the equation is clear: a time of 2:43.20 or faster would secure the record. Encouragingly, that lies well within his capabilities, given his personal best of 2:41.76 from last year’s European Indoor Championships.
Elsewhere in the morning session, medals were decided in the men’s high jump, continuing a strong showing in the event following Yaroslava Mahuchikh’s victory in the women’s competition a day earlier.
Ukraine’s Oleh Doroshchuk added another gold, claiming the world indoor title with a season’s best clearance of 2.30m.
He was pushed all the way by Mexico’s Erick Portillo, who matched that height for a lifetime best performance. However, Doroshchuk secured gold on countback, leaving Portillo to celebrate a breakthrough silver medal.
There was a tie for bronze, with both Raymond Richards and Woo Sang-hyeok clearing 2.26m to share the podium, rounding off a tightly contested and high-quality competition.