THE WORLD INDOOR Championships men’s heptathlon had it all. The unbridled joy of stunning, breakthrough performances. The struggle and rewards of overcoming adversity. The rueful regret of a bad event or opportunity missed. The sense of support and community that the multis always seem to have.
And finally, a rather unexpected World Record celebration and the visceral passing of the torch from one WR-holder to the next; in this case, Ashton Eaton to Simon Ehammer.
“It’s unbelievable,” said the Swiss two-time champ (also ’24) after completing his 6670, an improvement of 25 points over Eaton’s 6645 from the WIC in Istanbul in 2012. “Like a dream come true.”
And that dream came complete with nothing less than a call from the legend himself. “A U.S. coach gave me his phone, and we FaceTimed,” the Swiss star beamed. “It was a pleasure. Ashton is a big idol for me… I watched all the World Records from him because in quite a lot of events we are pretty similar. He’s not the best thrower, but he’s really fast and jumping good, so it was always nice to know I don’t need to throw, like, 70 meters in the javelin to be a good decathlete.”
Ehammer had a very good Day 1 and a lofty goal in mind. But he didn’t fully realize until, oh, about 7½ seconds into Day 2 how lofty that goal could be.
“I think after the first day, I knew I’m on a good way for a European record or maybe more,” he said. “But after the hurdles, I was so surprised because the goal was under 7.60, and then I smashed it completely. So I knew if I show what I can in the pole vault, I’m capable of a World Record.”
It’s hard to do justice, in words, to what Ehammer did in the 60H; yes, he’d been under 7.60 before, but not in a multi. His world hept best 7.52, which he caught on the clock as he dove through the finish, generated a did-I-just-win-the-lottery look of shock and utter joy on his face. It was just 0.09 shy of a mark that would have won bronze in the open 60H final later Saturday night.
But there were proverbial miles to go before he slept. In the ensuing pole vault, he made not just one, not just two, but three bars on his third attempt. “Pole vault was like a roller coaster, like 5.10, 5.20, 5.30 all in the third attempt,” he said. “But it was a mindset if I don’t jump in the third attempt over 5.10, I’m not the man to get the World Record. So I had to show some balls and stay confident and jump good.”
Meanwhile, while Ehammer won by the second-biggest margin in event history, Heath Baldwin (6337 for silver) and Kyle Garland (6245 for bronze) gave Team USA their first spots on the podium in this meet since Eaton completed his threepeat in ’16. Each had their ups and downs and regrets, but fully appreciated what their rival did.
For Baldwin, it was his first medal in a senior championship. “It’s pretty emotional,” he said. “This is my fourth major championship meet, and I feel like I’ve underperformed at every single one … so every time you come to a meet like this, you learn so much about what it takes.”
Baldwin felt pretty good about his 60, long jump and shot, but was disappointed in the high jump. “So I wasn’t super happy with Day 1,” he said. “I really wanted to come back on Day 2 with a bang and just hit it really hard. And I came out, had three PRs [and] worked my way back into 2nd place.
“So I just couldn’t be more proud of Day 2… just to know that I’m moving in the right direction and improving as I go each time, is really encouraging for me going forward.”
Baldwin added that, “seeing a World Record pushes the needle for all decathletes. Seeing Simon do that in the competition you are in makes everybody think that maybe we all can do it, too. He is really promoting the sport and improving it for everybody.”
“Man, it was definitely fun… and incredible to be involved in a competition that produced the world record,” said Garland, who had not contested a multi since earning World Champs decathlon bronze in September. “I thought there was no way anyone would touch Ashton Eaton’s mark but Simon is an amazing athlete and an even better person.
“His record makes me hungry to do more. For me, this competition was mostly about shaking off rust. I was most happy with my high jump and the 1000m, while the pole vault and the hurdles gave me some issues. The heart that I showed in that 1K, man, I haven’t run a great race that felt that good in a very long time. But I feel I could not have done much more here.
“It was a great atmosphere. Poland brought all of the vibes, all of the energy, so it was amazing to be able to compete out here with such an amazing group of guys and to be part of history.”
Concluded Ehammer, “I am very grateful for all guys in the field – we were in a great fight and it motivated me a lot.” □
