Damian Warner in the heptathlon hurdles at the World Athletics Indoor Championships Belgrade 22 (© Getty Images)
The two-day battle through seven heptathlon disciplines reached an exciting crescendo on Saturday (19) with Damian Warner earning his second global title in little more than seven months.
The Olympic champion from Canada is now the world indoor champion and stands second on the world indoor all-time list with 6489. It was a hard-fought victory, though, as the 32-year-old was pushed the entire way by rising Swiss talent Simon Ehammer.
Warner put together his best ever indoor series, starting with a 6.68 PB in the 60m. But three other men were close behind, also setting PBs: Australia’s Olympic bronze medallist Ashley Moloney ran 6.70, Ehammer clocked 6.72 and US indoor champion Garrett Scantling ran 6.84.
Ehammer continued to apply pressure in the long jump with a leap of 8.04m, but Warner responded with 8.05m, breaking the Canadian record. Moloney – who was competing indoors for the first time – produced a 7.82m leap.
Scantling came into his own in the third discipline, sending his shot out to 16.37m to move up to fourth overall. Warner managed 14.89m, enough to hold on to the lead, while Ehammer (14.23m) and Moloney (13.89m) maintained their second and third place positions respectively.
The first day ended with the high jump, where a 2.05m clearance from Ehammer meant he reduced the gap on Warner (1.99m) to just two points, 3649 to 3647. Moloney, battling with a niggling knee injury, cleared 2.02m and then retired from the high jump still in third place overall. Scantling also got over that same height and held on to fourth place.
Scantling, however, suffered from food poisoning throughout the night and withdrew from the competition before day two got under way. Warner still had Ehammer and Moloney to contend with and they pushed him all the way in the first discipline of day two, the 60m hurdles.
Despite clattering the last three barriers, Warner battled his way to the finish line in a PB of 7.61, breaking the championship best. Ehammer followed in 7.75 and Moloney was close behind in 7.88.
Despite equalling his lifetime best of 4.90m, Warner’s leading margin narrowed again after the pole vault, as Ehammer and Moloney both cleared indoor PBs of 5.10m. Ehammer’s performance meant he crept into the overall lead going into the final discipline, the 1000m.
Warner, however, was still in the driving seat as he is a far superior 1000m runner than Ehammer. He knew that he simply had to finish two seconds ahead of Ehammer to take the title. Moloney, meanwhile, had a battle of his own; Estonia’s Hans-Christian Hausenberg had cleared 5.30m in the pole vault, elevating him to fourth overall, just six points behind the young Australian.
But the 1000m played out as expected, with Warner going out hard alongside USA’s Steve Bastien and Estonia’s Karel Tilga. Bastien crossed the line first, but Warner held on for a 2:39.56 clocking, bringing his score to 6489. Not only did it smash his own Canadian and Commonwealth record, it also moves him to second on the world indoor all-time list behind double Olympic champion Ashton Eaton (6645) and ahead of outdoor world record-holder Kevin Mayer (6479).
Ehammer finished second overall with 6363, breaking his own Swiss record, while Moloney became the first man from Oceania to surpass 6000 points, smashing the continental record with 6344 – the highest ever score for a bronze medal at an indoor championships.
“When the competition started, I thought back to the 2018 World Indoors when I was up against Kevin Mayer and came away with the silver medal,” said Warner, reflecting on his 6343 performance from four years ago when he finished five points shy of the gold medal. “I wanted give it my all in this competition.”
Throughout most of the pandemic, Warner has trained in an old converted ice hockey facility in his home town of London, Ontario. Despite the less-than-ideal set-up, he has thrived and enjoyed the finest years of his career to date.
“It’s testament to the team I have,” said Warner, who last year became just the fourth man in history to exceed 9000 points in the decathlon. “It shows it’s not about the facility, it’s about coaches, community and family coming together.”
Behind the medallists, the next three athletes were rewarded with PBs: Hausenberg (6191), Switzerland’s Andri Oberholzer (6099) and Bastein (6074). For the first time ever at the World Indoors, eight men exceeded 6000 points.
Jon Mulkeen for World Athletics
| MEN'S HEPTATHLON MEDALLISTS | ||
| 🥇 | Damian Warner 🇨🇦 CAN | 6489 |
| 🥈 | Simon Ehammer 🇨🇭 SUI | 6363 |
| 🥉 | Ashley Moloney 🇦🇺 AUS | 6344 |
| Full results | ||
