Men Heptathlon
Leading Erki Nool by just four points going into the last event, the 1000m, Poland’s Sebastian Chmara made sure of gold by overtaking his rival in the last 50 metres of the race to clock 2:37.86 for a final score of 6386. After setting a personal best of 5.50 in the pole vault and with the vocal support of his tireless Fan Club, Nool must have thought he was destined to win. But although he took the lead in the 1000m, he was not strong enough to hold off Chmara, and finished in 2:38.62 for 6374 - a national record. Roman Sebrle of the Czech Republic secured the bronze medal by clearing 4.80 in the vault and 2:41.50 for a total score of 6319, another national best.
Gold Medallist - CHMARA Sebastian(POL)
"I started this competition ahead of Erki(NOOL) and he was the biggest danger and
so my performance early on released much of the pressure on me. Everything went well in
these Championships but unlike Valencia (European Indoors 1998) where I had a large lead,
here I had to battle. 1000 meters was so fast. The 500 meters less distance from the
Decathlon outdoors makes it more of a sprint. The whole group went off fast and I had to
go with them, feeling I would not catch up. This final race is NOOL's territory and so
this made it even harder for me.
NOOL is number one in Estonia, their President is second. With this kind of national
support it makes NOOL twice the competitor."
Silver Medallist - NOOL Erki (EST)
"I came here to this championships to win and break the world record. But the
first day was disastrous for me, especially the sprint and also the high jump.
Today the pole vault brought me back a little bit. It is hard to jump alone, you have only
3 minutes preparation time and that is too little with no partners. The 1000 meter run was
really difficult, but I could not really believe in gold anymore. I had to try to run
fast. There was five of us still who could have made it to the medals.The summer is most
important for me but the indoor season suits well to my plans."
Bronze Medallist - SEBRLE Roman(CZE)
"This is my first indoor championships and also my first national record.
Needless to say I am very content with this result. I was not afraid of Tomas (DVORAK) as
he is only human. I hope that I can keep up the good work and repeat this result some time
in the near future.
This medal is very special for me as my country has never won more than three medals at
indoor championships, and my third place today is our 4th in Maebashi."
