Nafissatou Thiam and Adrianna Sulek after making pentathlon history in Istanbul (© Getty Images)
A stunning world indoor pentathlon record of 5055 points* by Belgium’s Nafissatou Thiam highlighted a captivating night at the European Indoor Championships in Istanbul on Friday (3), with global champions Jakob Ingebrigtsen, Mujinga Kambundji and Pedro Pichardo also living up to their favourite’s billing with gold in their respective events.
The undoubted star, however, was the brilliant Belgian, but this was no solo display of supremacy. Thiam was pushed to the dying moments by Poland’s Adrianna Sulek, whose tally of 5014 also surpassed the previous world record of 5013, set in the same Atakoy Arena in 2012 by Ukraine’s Nataliya Dobrynska.
Sulek set personal bests of 8.21 in the 60m hurdles, 13.89m in the shot put and equalled her PB of 1.89m in the high jump before unleashing another PB of 6.62m in the long jump. Thiam, meanwhile, started her day by equalling her 60m hurdles PB with 8.23, before clearing 1.92m in the high jump and then unleashing a PB of 15.54m in the shot put, which gave her a lead of 144 points going into the evening session.
World indoor pentathlon record-breaker Nafissatou Thiam in action in the shot put (© Getty Images)
Thiam kept Sulek at arm’s length with her 6.59m effort in the long jump, which gave her a 134-point lead ahead of the 800m, which she went into knowing she needed to run under 2:15.60 to break the world record. Sulek very nearly ran herself to a standstill in the final event, stumbling through the final metres to hit the line in 2:07.17, with Thiam crossing in 2:13.60 to take her third European indoor gold, along with the world record. Bronze went to Belgium’s Noor Vidts with 4823 points.
“Coming here, I felt very confident," said Thiam. "I have done a lot of good work and of course, the record was in my mind. But you need a good competition, to feel good and to perform well. It is good information for me that I managed to show this result despite the fact that not all events were perfect today. The long jump, high jump could have been better. So I can still build on this.”
Sulek was buoyed by her performance and has eyes on going one better next time. "I really wanted to have a world record and I have done everything,” she said. “I didn't expect that Nafissatou would be fighting in this style today. I hope that in the future I will be the best in the world."
The men’s 1500m also boiled down to a thrilling head-to-head finale, with Ingebrigtsen stalked to the final turn by his chief danger, Britain’s Neil Gourley. But the Norwegian proved too strong, winning his 10th European senior title in a championship record of 3:33.95, and few would bet against him doing the double in Sunday night’s 3000m final.
Ingebrigtsen’s last lap was 27.84. Gourley was close behind with 3:34.23 to win silver, with France’s Azeddine Habz winning bronze in 3:35.39.
Jakob Ingebrigtsen wins the European indoor 1500m title in Istanbul (© Getty Images)
“Every race has its own life, it is all about putting yourself in a good position,” said Ingebrigtsen, who swept to the lead after 100m, churning through 400m of 57.58, hitting 800m in 1:55.47 and 1200m in 2:52.78. “Of course, I had a great fight with Gourley. I really appreciate him. I know he was preparing good for this.”
Strength may have won Ingebrigtsen his title, but for Kambundji, it was all about pure, indomitable speed.
The Swiss star was utterly untouchable from the moment the gun fired for the women’s 60m final, adding her first European indoor title to the world indoor crown she claimed in Belgrade last year. She didn’t need 6.96 to win here, but the 30-year-old threatened that same illustrious barrier once again, exploding from the blocks and pulling away with every stride to tie the championship record, clocking 7.00. Poland’s Ewa Swoboda took silver with 7.09, while Britain’s Daryll Neita took bronze with 7.12.
“It was good – maybe not my best race ever, but I was able to run my season’s best,” said Kambundji. “The equalled championship record is an honour for me. There have been many European Championships and now I can be even happier for this result.”
Mujinga Kambundji claims the European indoor 60m crown (© Getty Images)
The women’s 3000m played out in similar fashion to the men’s 1500m – with a head-to-head, last-lap showdown – but this time it was not the relentless pace-setter but the big kicker who reigned supreme. The 15-lap event boiled down to a German championship playing out on the European stage. But unlike at their national indoors a fortnight ago, the finishing order was reversed, and it was Hanna Klein who used her potent finishing speed to claim her first European title in a PB of 8:35.87 ahead of Konstanze Klosterhalfen (8:36.50).
Latvia’s Agate Caune cut out the early running, towing the field through 1000m in a steady 3:00.79. Fast enough for many, but not for Klosterhalfen, who then surged to the front, clocking a 2:49.73 second kilometre, and only Klein and Britain’s Melissa Courtney-Bryant could live with it. Klein tracked her compatriot’s slipstream until the final lap, then powered past, her final kilometre covered in 2:45.35. Klosterhalfen hung on for silver in 8:36.50, with Courtney-Bryant taking bronze in 8:41.19.
“It was a perfect race for me, not too fast from the beginning and getting very fast at the end,” said Klein. “The way I could keep up with Klosterhalfen just made me feel stronger and stronger, because I could trust my speed at the end.”
Italy’s Zane Weir claimed his first major championship title with a dramatic victory in the men’s shot put, throwing a national record of 22.06m. Weir moved into the lead in the second round with an Italian record of 21.89m but then Tomas Stanek of the Czech Republic unleashed a season’s best of 21.90m. The third round saw Weir find something extra, adding 17cm to his previous mark – more than enough for gold. A final-round effort of 21.84m moved Ukraine’s Roman Kokoschko into third ahead of Croatia’s European outdoor champion Filip Mihaljevic, who threw 21.43m.
“I am very emotional as I have been overlooked for a long time,” said Weir, who dedicated his win to his coach Paolo Dal Soglio. “It feels good to be finally where I am. The previous season was difficult because of the broken finger but here I am now.”
In the men’s triple jump, Portugal’s Pichardo set a world-leading mark of 17.60m to retain his title, having taken command with his first-round effort of 17.26m. Silver went to Nikolaos Andrikopoulos of Greece with 16.58m, a centimetre ahead of Germany’s bronze medallist Max Hess. “The competition was easy, I wish the competition was stronger,” said Pichardo.
Pedro Pichardo celebrates his triple jump win in Istanbul (© Getty Images)
A second Portuguese gold arrived in the women’s shot put from Auriol Dongmo, who retained her title with a season’s best of 19.76m. Germany’s Sara Gambetta was a surprise silver medallist with 18.83m, ahead of Sweden’s Fanny Roos on 18.42m, with European champion Jessica Schilder having to settle for fifth place with 18.29m.
“I am really pleased because throwing over 19.50m is a good starting point which gives me extra motivation to work hard,” said Dongmo. “I wanted to throw over 20 metres and in my head that's what I was working for. Also, coming here as a reigning champion put some pressure but today everything went well.”
In the 400m semifinals, favourites Karsten Warholm of Norway and Femke Bol of the Netherlands advanced to Saturday's finals with the minimum of fuss, taking comfortable wins and clocking 45.43 and 52.19 respectively. Lieke Klaver of the Netherlands was an impressive winner of the other semifinal on the women's side, clocking 51.43, while Sweden's Carl Bengstrom clocked 45.77 to win the other men's semifinal.
Cathal Dennehy for World Athletics
*Subject to the usual ratification procedure
