WIC Glasgow 24 preview: combined events

Men’s heptathlon

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Ken Mullings finds himself as the surprising world leader heading into the men’s heptathlon at the World Athletics Indoor Championships Glasgow 24.

The Bahamian enjoyed a significant breakthrough into 8000-point territory in the decathlon last year, scoring a PB of 8060. But the 26-year-old’s improvements this indoor season has been even more notable.

In a heptathlon in Illinois at the end of January, Mullings set PBs in six of the seven disciplines, winning with a national record of 6340. Not only did it catapult the 26-year-old to 21st on the world indoor all-time list, it has also set him up to become the first athlete from The Bahamas to win a global combined events medal.

But there’ll be one man in Glasgow with an even higher PB than Mullings and plenty of motivation.

Simon Ehammer took silver in Belgrade two years ago with a Swiss record of 6363. Later that year, he went on to earn world long jump bronze and European decathlon silver. But despite being a talented long jumper, that discipline has also been his downfall in combined events competitions, as he recorded three no-jumps at the European Indoors and the Hypo Meeting last year.

This is a new year, though, and an opportunity for Ehammer to banish those demons before turning his attention to the outdoor season.

The domestic rivalry between Norwegian duo Sander Skotheim and Markus Rooth has inspired both youngsters to better one another’s national decathlon records outdoors in recent years. Rooth scored 8307 in 2022, which Skotheim broke at the start of last year with 8590, but Rooth reclaimed the record to win the European U23 title with 8608.

Both men will be in Glasgow and Skotheim perhaps has the slight upper hand, given that Rooth has never contested a heptathlon at a major indoor championships. Skotheim took European indoor silver last year with 6318, and so far this season he has scored 6281.

Makenson Gletty, winner at Decastar at the end of last year, has started the year in strong form, no doubt inspired by the prospect of a home Olympics later this year. The French all-rounder added 140 points to his PB with 6230 in Aubiere at the end of January, which could put him among the medals.

Three years after becoming the first U20 athlete ever to break 6000 in a junior heptathlon, Jente Hauttekeete bettered that mark with the senior implements to win the Belgian indoor title with 6131. The 2021 European U20 champion will be making his senior international championships debut.

Estonia’s 2019 NCAA decathlon champion Johannes Erm will also be contesting his first heptathlon at a major indoor championships. Erm, who set a decathlon PB of 8484 at last year’s World Championships, has a heptathlon PB of 6114, dating back to 2020.

US decathlon champion Harrison Williams hasn’t contested a heptathlon since 2019 when he won the NCAA indoor title with 6042. He has added almost 500 points to his decathlon PB since then, though, so his indoor best is probably due some serious revision.

Other athletes entered are Sven Jansons of the Netherlands and Czech duo Ondrej Kopecky and Vilem Strasky.

 

Women’s pentathlon

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Noor Vidts could become the first woman in history to win two global pentathlon gold medals when she defends her title at the World Athletics Indoor Championships Glasgow 24.

In the absence of fellow Belgian Nafissatou Thiam, the Olympic champion and world indoor record-holder, as well as world champion Katarina Johnson-Thompson and 2023 world leader Anna Hall, Vidts will start as a strong favourite to win gold in Glasgow.

That’s not to say she’ll have it all her way, though, as world leader Maria Vicente will be vying to win her first senior global title.

Vidts hasn’t contested a pentathlon so far this year, but has shown decent form in the 60m hurdles (8.26), long jump (6.37m) and shot put (13.75m), all of which aren’t too far away from the level she was at leading into the 2022 World Indoor Championships, where she won gold with 4929.

The Belgian, who placed fourth at the Tokyo Olympic Games in 2021, will likely need to produce a few season’s bests in Glasgow if she’s to hold off the challenge from Vicente, who earlier this year broke her own Spanish record with 4728.

Vicente’s series included PBs of 13.84m in the show and 2:15.50 in the 800m. Since then, she has improved her 60m hurdles PB to 8.06 and equalled her indoor high jump PB of 1.80m.

Both Vicente and Vidts are proven championship performers, often producing PBs or season’s bests in the heptathlon and pentathlon at major championships, setting the scene for an exciting duel between the pair in Glasgow.

Behind Vidts and Vicente, there’s a host of competitors with PBs and season’s bests in the 4500-4600 range, any of whom could potentially challenge for a medal.

Austria’s 2019 world bronze medallist Verena Mayr will be making her World Indoor Championships debut. The 29-year-old as fond memories of Glasgow, as it’s where she set her pentathlon PB of 4637 at the 2019 European Indoors. She recently won her national title with 4525.

Hungary’s 2021 world U20 bronze medallist Szabina Sucz has improved her PB to 4588 this year, which puts her just ahead of Sofie Dokter (4553) on the entry lists. Dutch all-rounder Doktor, however, has the better PB 4603 and is also a superior heptathlete outdoors.

Sveva Gerevini has added almost 100 points to her own Italian pentathlon record this year with 4538, while Ukraine’s Yuliya Loban (4537) and Sweden’s Bianca Salming (4533) have also set PBs this year.

Two-time world U20 heptathlon champion Saga Vanninen of Finland could also be one to watch – especially in the shot put, in which she has a PB of 16.12m.

Others in the line-up include USA’s Chari Hawkins, Croatia’s Jana Koscak and Britain’s Abigail Pawlett.

Jon Mulkeen for World Athletics