Carl Schönenberger from Götzis
Unlimited – Yes, that really applies to Simon Ehammer. When he reached 8.30m (the Swiss record) three weeks ago in Ratingen (de), even insiders were amazed. And in true Ehammer’s way, the athlete himself immediately set new goals. “I can and want to jump 8.50 metres,” he said after Ratingen.
No one, except Ehamer himself, dared to dream that things would happen so quickly.
But specifically – this hammer is not a normal thing for Swiss athletics. He is bursting with self-confidence, overflowing with desire to compete – hence he is not only limitless with his words, but also knows no limits to his performance. Or then simply ignore everyone.
8.45 m – on the first try. He broke his own world record within the decathlon by 15cm. At this distance, Emer would have won the gold at the last Olympics in Tokyo – at that time Miltiadis Tenedoglu (Gr) jumped 8.41m.
It was not without good reason that the Appenzell national decided in his off season to plan to skip it all at the World Championships in Eugene (USA) in July and focus entirely instead on the long jump card. Because this year he has yet to fly a long jump specialist. “I want to catch the decathlon in August at the European Championships in Munich.”
But for now, Simon is in Gotzis. And because he’s a multi-level player, he wants to tickle Canadian Olympic champion Damien Warner (32), especially on his first decathlon today. He works well in the first two disciplines. In the 100-meter sprint at the opening, Warner is still a 9,000-point man with a 10.14-second lead. But Ehammer doesn’t flinch either – he’s running at 10.46 seconds, faster than ever. It is an announcement of the second discipline, the long jump. With 7.93 metres, Warner has nothing to offer against the massive group of Simon Greenslaus.
Ehammer offered his strength impressively – however, tracking eight disciplines and the long jump is clearly the strongest for Simon.
Finley Gaio also started strong in the decathlon, recording 10.54 in the hundreds and 7.70 meters in the long jump. Heptathlon record holder Annick Kalin (22) made a strong start with 13.48 seconds over the 100m hurdles and 1.74m in the high jump.
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