Flying weather in Götzis
In the long jump, world champion
Leo Neugebauer (GER) delivered a very strong jump of 7.97m in his second attempt - just 3 cm below his long jump PB of 8.00m. The stadium was already beside itself - and then came the
(e)hammer: Simon Ehammer asks for the crowd's support again in his second attempt, takes a run-up and takes off. The sand flies far beyond the pit, the pit almost seems too short - Simon Ehammer jumps a distance of 8.51 m, a new
world record in a decathlon, the
Swiss record in the long jump and also
the world lead in the long jump. What an unbelievable performance - the Mösle Stadium is beside itself with this incredible jump!
But the air show continued - first in the shot put, when Leo Neugebauer threw the ball to 16.71 m, and then in the high jump: Neugebauer, Ehammer and above all the young Czech Tomas Järvinen delivered flights of fancy like no other. With a jump of 2.09 m, Järvinen secured victory in the discipline and 887 points for the overall standings. Neugebauer's 2.06 m jump counts towards his score, Ehammer's 2.03 m. For Tomas Järvinen, it is also his first decathlon in the active competition; previously, the 20-year-old only competed in junior decathlons.
At the halfway point, high-flyer Simon Ehammer leads the overall standings with the best first day of decathlon ever - but he is followed by Leo Neugebauer with 130 points, and eight-time Götzis winner Damian Warner remains in 3rd place. Surprise man Hakim McMorris (USA) finished the first day in 4th place, and Niklas Kaul (GER) should not be forgotten either. The German is known to be particularly strong on the second day and will certainly be on the attack tomorrow from 18th place. Maybe it's finally time for an 80m javelin throw?
Everything is still open: A highly exciting day 2 in the heptathlon is imminent
The summer temperatures that prevailed when the first event of the women's heptathlon kicked off at 11:05 a.m. probably also ensured that some of the heptathletes put in top performances right at the start of the day.
Sophie Weißenberg (GER) set a new personal best in the second heat of the 100m hurdles in her comeback heptathlon after a long injury break - this 13.40 seconds not only caused an emotional moment for Sophie Weißenberg, but also for one or two fans. However, she was not the only one to impress right from the start with a new PB of 13.27 seconds, as did Sofie Dokter (NED), the indoor world champion and number 1 on this year's start list. One run later, Emma Oosterwegel (NED) followed suit and lowered her PB by seven hundredths to 13.21 seconds. The absolute best time was set by Taliyah Brooks (USA) with 12.87 seconds, just four hundredths ahead of Annik Kälin (SUI).
After a very good performance in the high jump and further personal bests in the shot put (14.70 m) and the 200 m (23.13 seconds), Sofie Dokter (NED) is in a commanding lead after day 1 - 110 points ahead of Annik Kälin (SUI) and 120 points ahead of Taliyah Brooks (USA).
With regard to tomorrow's second day, however, everything is still open in the heptathlon - for example, Annik Kälin, a strong long jumper, will be looking to pick up a few more points. And Emma Oosterwegel (NED), who is in fourth place with Vanessa Grimm (GER) with 3847 points, is the strongest javelin thrower on the second day. The generally very strong German team showed its best side in this heptathlon.
The Vorarlberg local hero Chiara Schuler was not really satisfied with her high jump on the first day of the competition, as it fell well short of her own expectations. But she will still start the second day with a lot of motivation and an unmistakable "Kiki fan club".
Be there live in the stadium tomorrow and make the Mösle shake - with eight more disciplines full of excitement, action and emotion, as well as the junior finals of the Montfort Track Challenge over the 600m and 800m.
