TORUŃ, POLAND, March 20–21 —Talk of a possible World Record centered on American Kyle Garland and Swiss Simon Ehammer.
Garland had scared Ashton Eaton’s 6645 in winning the 2023 NCAA title with 6639 and was coming off his best-ever decathlon season with a Tokyo bronze. Meanwhile, Ehammer’s best was “only” 6506 from winning last year’s Euro crown but here he would be bypassing the long jump, where he’s also world-class.
With a strong set of marks — especially a Day 2 full of PRs — Ehammer took down Eaton’s 14-year-old standard. Garland fell out of contention on Day 2 as Heath Baldwin surged to lead the U.S. contingent.
Here’s how it went down:
60: Ehammer was hot early, PRing at 6.69 that was 0.12 seconds up on the 6.81 from his PR score and 37 points ahead of Eaton’s WR pace. Garland’s 6.93 was solid but not near the 6.87A in his best score, and Baldwin trimmed 0.01 seconds off his best with 6.97.
Long Jump: Ehammer was predictably the best here, although his 26-9 (8.15) was short of both his own hept WR of 27-1¼ (8.26) and the 26-11 (8.20) in his PR score. He was 31 points up on PR pace and 34 ahead of Eaton’s WR pace. Garland dropped behind by over 200 points as he wasn’t close to his 26-1¾A (7.97A) best at 24-10½ (7.58), and Baldwin was similarly down at 24-1 (7.34). He had hit his PR 25-2½ (7.68) in his 6245 PR score.
Shot Put: NBC commentator Trey Hardee maintained that any serious WR attempt by Ehammer would need a good effort here, and the Swiss was solid enough at 48-9½ (14.87) even though he wasn’t near his PR 50-2¾ (15.31) that dated to 2021. He was now 53 up on Eaton’s WR pace. Garland made up ground with a put of 53-2¼ (16.21) but was still 150 points behind. Baldwin hit 52-½ (15.86), near his 52-6 (16.00) PR as the top-3 started to gain separation.
High Jump: Garland sprung to life at 7-¼ (2.14) — not a PR but the first improvement on his PR score as his projection was at 6526. Baldwin was next at 6-9¾ (2.08), just below the 6-10¼ (2.09) in his PR score. Ehammer’s lead over Garland dropped to 38 points with a 6-7½ (2.02) clearance. He was oh-so-close on one attempt at matching his 6-8¾ (2.05) indoor PR; he was 44 ahead of Eaton’s WR pace.
60 Hurdles: Ehammer was better than anyone imagined, blazing 7.52 to smash Eaton’s hept WR of 7.60 in going 86 points up on Eaton’s WR pace. Baldwin hit a nifty PR 7.80 but Garland, clobbering the last four hurdles, ran just 8.21 — far off his 7.74A PR.
Pole Vault: Ehammer had the best PR in the field at 17-6½ (5.35). He virtually assured victory with a safe early clearance but needed three attempts at three later bars, including an indoor PR 17-4½ (5.30) that put him 118 points up on Eaton’s WR pace. Baldwin soared into 2nd place, raising his PR twice to join the 5-meter club (16-4¾) while Garland managed only 15-5 (4.70).
1000: Ehammer didn’t need to run his PR of 2:41.76 to break the WR, but merely 2:42.34. He PRed anyway at 2:41.04 to seal a 6670 WR. Baldwin likewise PRed for the third time of the day at 2:39.06 to improve his No. 6 American all-time standing by 92 points at 6337. Garland ran 2:43.43 to total 6245 in securing the bronze.
“I am speechless – my dream came true,” said Ehammer. “I badly wanted to improve the European Record [6558 by Sander Skotheim] but it was difficult to imagine that the World Record would be possible as well. I went through all of the events fighting for my goal. I fought for every single height in the pole vault.
“I cannot even count how many times I’ve watched Ashton Eaton compete in the decathlon and heptathlon. I learned a lot from him and now I have broken his World Record. I’ve already spoken to him on the phone. It was a pleasure. It’s incredible.”
MEN’S HEPTATHLON RESULTS
(March 20–21)
1. Simon Ehammer (Swi) 6670 WR (old WR 6645 Ashton Eaton [US] ’12)
(6.69, 26-9/8.15, 48-9½/14.87, 6-7½/2.02 [3698], 7.52, 17-4½/5.30, 2:41.04 [2972]);
2. Heath Baldwin (US) 6337 PR (8, x A)
(6.97, 24-1/7.34, 52-½/15.86, 6-9¾/2.08 [3510], 7.80, 16-4¾/5.00, 2:39.06 [2827]);
3. Kyle Garland (US) 6245
(6.93, 24-10½/7.58, 53-2¼/16.21, 7-¼/2.14 [3660], 8.21, 15-5/4.70, 2:43.43 [2585]);
4. Vilém Stráský (CzR) 6188 PR
(6.94, 24-1½/7.35, 46-8¾/14.24, 6-4/1.93 [3285], 7.88, 16-8¾/5.10, 2:33.25 [2903]);
5. Jente Hauttekeete (Bel) 6049
(6.99, 23-5½/7.15, 50-4/15.34, 6-6¼/1.99 [3341], 8.03, 16-¾/4.90, 2:41.75 [2708]);
6. Teo Bastien (Fra) 6004
(7.08, 24-8½/7.53, 47-6¼/14.48, 6-7½/2.02 [3376], 8.26, 16-8¾/5.10, 2:49.60 [2628]);
7. Jeff Tesselaar (Neth) 5960 PR; 8. Rasmus Roosleht (Est) 5952; 9. Manuel Eitel (Ger) 5818; 10. Kendrick Thompson (Bah) 5776; 11. Ondřej Kopecký (CzR) 5772; 12. José Fernando Ferreira Santana (Bra) 5627;… dnf—Makenson Gletty (Fra), Dario Dester (Ita) 2511.
