TORUŃ, POLAND, March 22 — A close one on paper was even closer in reality.
The field included two of history’s 5000-pointers in Poland’s Adrianna Sułek-Schubert (5014) and Anna Hall, the American Record holder at 5004A in her first-ever World Indoor. Dutch 23-year-old Sofie Dokter (4826) and Ireland’s Kate O’Connor (4781) were seen as other strong contenders.
Here’s how things worked out:
60 Hurdles: Hall led the way in 8.18 to edge the 8.19 PR of Dokter. Also running well was O’Connor at 8.23 while Sułek-Schubert clocked 8.44, notably off her 8.21 PR.
High Jump: Hall entered with the highest PR — 6-3¼ (1.91) indoors — but Dokter turned the tables with an indoor PR 6-1½ (1.87) to take the overall lead at 2153. That was 36 points up on Hall, who managed just 6-½ (1.84). The 36-point difference here would prove critical at the end. Sułek-Schubert and O’Connor both cleared 5-11¼ (1.81), much stronger for the latter.
Shot Put: Sułek-Schubert brought the home crowd to life with an absolute best of 48-10¼ (14.89) as all four protagonists moved into top-4 overall after PRs of some sort. O’Connor also PRed at 48-2¾ (14.70), while Hall (46-8¼/14.23) and Dokter (45-8/13.92) both notched indoor bests. It was a third-straight event PR for Dokter.
Point leaders at the end of the early session: Dokter 2942, Hall 2926, O’Connor 2909, Sułek-Schubert 2875.
Long Jump: While no one PRed, the top-3 separated themselves here as Dokter with 21-4¾ (6.52) and O’Connor with 20-11¼ (6.38) hit near-PRs. Hall, spanning 20-4½ (6.21), stayed in contention.
Point standings for the top-3 now had Dokter (3956) 78 points up on O’Connor (3878) with Hall (3841) another 37 points back.
800: Hall is the all-timer among multis outdoors at 2:01.23. She has never had to go all-out indoors (best of “just” 2:05.53), but she did so here in attempting to pass Dokter in the point standings as she needed a difference of some 9 seconds. Bolting to an immediate lead she was well ahead of everyone with a 59.77 split at 400 before slowing to 2:06.32, her third-fastest in a pentathlon.
It was not enough to win as Dokter clocked 2:12.27 to finish with an NR 4888, 28 points ahead of Hall’s 4860 that rates No. 2 in U.S. history and is the low-altitude AR. O’Connor had an indoor PR 2:10.26 to cap her 4839.
“I still cannot believe I am the world champion,” Dokter said. “The moment when I believed I could win was after the long jump. After my final attempt, I told myself it was possible but I knew Anna is super-fast in the 800 and I could not take it for granted. I had to give to it all I had, and I pushed all the way.” □
WOMEN’S PENTATHLON RESULTS
(March 22)
1. Sofie Dokter (Neth) 4888 NR (WL)
(8.19, 6-1½/1.87, 45-8/13.92, 21-4¾/6.52, 2:12.27);
2. Anna Hall (US) 4860 lo-alt AR (old l-a AR 4831 Hall ’26) (x, 2 A)
(8.18, 6-½/1.84, 46-8¼/14.23, 20-4½/6.21, 2:06.32);
3. Kate O’Connor (Ire) 4839 NR
(8.23, 5-11¼/1.81, 48-2¾/14.70, 20-11¼/6.38, 2:10.26);
4. Adrianna Sułek-Schubert (Pol) 4638
(8.44, 5-11¼/1.81, 48-10¼/14.89, 19-7½/5.98, 2:13.10);
5. Szabina Szűcs (Hun) 4618 PR
(8.21, 5-10/1.78, 41-10½/12.76, 20-7¾/6.29, 2:12.28);
6. Paulina Ligarska (Pol) 4557
(8.31, 5-7¾/1.72, 46-3½/14.11, 20-1½/6.13, 2:12.54);
7. Sveva Gerevini (Ita) 4522 (8.25, 5-7¾/1.72, 42-11¾/13.10, 20-2¼/6.15, 2:11.69);
8. Sandrina Sprengel (Ger) 4475 PR; 9. Beatričė Juškevičiūtė (Lit) 4392; 10. Ellen Barber (GB) 4387 PR; 11. Anastasía Dragomírova (Gre) 4120;… dnf—Allie Jones (US), Martha Araujo (Col).
