Simon Ehammer at the World Athletics Indoor Championships Kujawy Pomorze 26 (© Getty Images)
Simon Ehammer holds the overnight lead in the heptathlon, just 38 points ahead of US rival Kyle Garland, with both athletes on course for a big score at the World Athletics Indoor Championships Kujawy Pomorze 26.
Ehammer, the world indoor gold medallist in 2024 and silver medallist last year, got off to a flying start in the opening discipline, speeding to a 60m PB of 6.69 – comfortably the quickest of the day. The next nine athletes posted times between 6.91 and 7.00, and Garland was among those, running 6.93.
Ehammer extended his overall lead in the long jump, his best discipline and the event in which he earned world bronze in 2022. He opened with 8.08m, followed it with 7.99m and then improved to 8.15m – just one centimetre shy of the championship best performance.
Garland was the second-best performer in that discipline but, as was the case in the 60m, was some way behind Ehammer. The US athlete jumped 7.58m to move into second place overall.
Garland made inroads on Ehammer’s lead in the shot put, throwing 16.21m to the Swiss athlete’s 14.87m. Estonai’s Rasmus Rooseleht was the best overall performer in that event, unleashing a season’s best of 16.44m.
Ehammer continued his good form and maintained his overall lead after clearing a season’s best of 2.02m in the high jump, giving him a day-one tally of 3698. If he matches the marks he produced at the 2025 European Indoors in tomorrow's disciplines, he'll score 6557 - just one point shy of the European record. If he matches his PBs in those disciplines, he'll score 6670 and break the world record by 25 points.
Garland continued to apply pressure with a 2.14m clearance in the high jump. He is now just 13 points shy of the pace he set when scoring 6639 – the second-best heptathlon performance in history and six points shy of the world record.
With the 60m hurdles and pole vault – two disciplines with a high chance of surprise outcomes – still to come, expect many more changes to the leaderboard before the concluding 1000m on Saturday.
Jon Mulkeen for World Athletics
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