Simon Ehammer in Gotzis (© Laszlo Zsigmond)
Simon Ehammer produced the best first-day score in decathlon history to lead at the halfway stage of the Hypomeeting in Götzis on Saturday (30), while Sofie Dokter sits on PB pace at the head of a closely contested heptathlon at the World Athletics Combined Events Tour Gold meeting.
Ehammer ended the first day with 4762 points after a superb series that included a world decathlon best and Swiss record of 8.51m in the long jump.
The world indoor champion started strongly, clocking 10.41 in the 100m – the second-fastest time of his career and bettered in the field only by Canada’s Damian Warner, who ran 10.28.
Ehammer then moved on to one of his specialist events, the long jump. After fouling his opening attempt, he sailed out to 8.51m (1.0m/s) with his second-round effort. The mark added six centimetres to his own world decathlon best and Swiss record, which he set in Götzis in 2022.
Germany’s world champion Leo Neugebauer also made a strong start, helped by a 7.97m leap in the long jump, just three centimetres shy of his lifetime best, while eight-time Götzis winner Warner jumped 7.73m.
Neugebauer made up ground in the shot put, throwing 16.71m, and Ehammer kept his momentum going with a season’s best of 15.15m, just 16 centimetres shy of his PB and one centimetre farther than Warner’s 15.14m.
Both Ehammer and Neugebauer then came close to their lifetime bests in the high jump, clearing 2.03m and 2.06m respectively. Warner remained in contention with 2.00m, the same height cleared by Germany’s Niklas Kaul, while USA’s Hakim McMorris was the only athlete in the field to set a PB, clearing 2.03m to move into fourth place.
Neugebauer’s high jump brought him to within 100 points of Ehammer, but the Swiss athlete responded in the 400m, clocking 47.33 – again close to his lifetime best. US duo Harrison Williams and McMorris were the only athletes to run faster, recording 46.82 and 47.09 respectively, while Warner ran 47.77 and Neugebauer 47.99.
Ehammer’s 4762-point tally is 142 points up on his halfway score from his PB series in Götzis last year, when he went on to finish with 8575. The previous best day-one score in history is Dan O’Brien’s 4747 from the 1991 US Championships.
Neugebauer sits second with 4632, just 53 points down on the pace from his German record of 8961, and 177 points up on his day-one score from his world title-winning performance last year, when he scored 8804.
Warner is third with 4541, just 44 points behind his day-one pace from his most recent victory in Götzis in 2024.
Dokter leads close heptathlon contest
World indoor champion Sofie Dokter leads the heptathlon with 3969 points after a breakthrough first day that featured three significant PBs.
The Dutch athlete is 27 points up on the pace from her PB of 6576, set when finishing second in Götzis last year. Behind her, the next four women are separated by just 12 points, with Switzerland’s Annik Kälin second ahead of USA’s world bronze medallist Taliyah Brooks, Germany’s Vanessa Grimm and the Netherlands’ Emma Oosterwegel.
Brooks made the strongest start, winning the 100m hurdles in 12.87, finishing 0.04 ahead of Kälin. Dokter also made an early statement, reducing her PB to 13.27.
Dokter followed that with a 1.80m clearance in the high jump, while Brooks cleared 1.77m and Kälin managed 1.74m.
The Dutch all-rounder then set another big PB in the shot put, throwing 14.70m to improve her previous best by 47 centimetres. Brooks produced a season’s best of 14.17m and Kälin threw 13.67m.
Dokter completed her day with a third PB, clocking 23.13 in the 200m, improving on her previous best of 23.46. There were also PBs for Germany’s Sophie Weissenberg, who ran 23.25, Kälin with 23.33 and Oosterwegel with 23.65.
Brooks lost some ground in the final event of the day, clocking 24.23, but remains firmly in contention heading into Sunday’s long jump, javelin and 800m.
