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Record-setting Skotheim claims European indoor heptathlon title / Photo: JOHN THYS - AFP
Record-setting Skotheim claims European indoor heptathlon title
Norway's Sander Skotheim clinched the European indoor heptathlon title in style at the last throw of the dice in the Netherlands on Saturday.
The European recordholder produced a personal best time of 2mins 32.72sec in the closing 1000m to take gold with a new continental record points tally of 6,558.
The world indoor silver medallist's performance in Apeldoorn moved him up to third in the all-time list behind Americans Ashton Eaton (6645 in 2012) and Kyle Garland (6639 in 2023).
"The atmosphere was crazy," beamed the 22-year-old after his duel over two days with Swiss Simon Ehammer.
Ehammer, heptathlon world indoor champion in Glasgow last year, took silver with 6506 points. Germany's Till Steinforth completed the podium with a tally of 6388.
Ehammer had taken the lead after the second event on Friday with a 8.20m effort in the long jump, a record for the event.
Skotheim bounced back in the high jump, with Ehammer dominating the 60m hurdles. Both cleared 5.10m in the pole vault to leave Ehammer with a 50-points advantage going into the seventh and final event with Skotheim saving his best till last.
In the men's triple jump Andy Diaz, the Cuban-born Italian bronze medallist at the Paris Olympics last year, took the title with a leap of 17.71m.
C.W.Kuhn--BlnAP
