Taliyah Brooks and Jente Hauttekeete Victorious at Multistars - World Athletics Combined Event Tour
Taliyah Brooks and Jente Hauttekeete claimed the wins at the 37th edition of the Multistars at the athletics stadium dedicated to the memory of Gabre Gabric, who took part in two editions of the Olympic Games in the discus throw in Berlin 1936 and London 1948.
Women's Heptathlon:
During the second day Brooks won the long jump with a best mark of 6.52m in her second attempt after a jump of 6.48m in the first round. Brooks strengthened her lead with 4781 points.
Lovisa Karlsson from Sweden leapt to 6.47m to move from third into second with 4527 points. Katelyn Adel from Switzerland improved her ranking to third with 4498 points after leaping to 6.41m.
Ida Eikeng from Norway won the javelin throw to 51.62m to move up into fourth place with 5195 points. Kate O’Connor from Ireland produced the best throw of 49.28m to improve her position in the ranking to third with 5213 points. Brooks threw the javelin to 38.53m to hold on to her leading position with 5420 points.
Brooks crossed the finish-line in fourth place in a PB of 2:13.81 in the 800 metres to win the Multistars for the second consecutive year equalling her PB with 6330 points, the second best performance in the world this year. The US heptathlete achieved exactly the same score when she won in Desenzano del Garda last year. Brooks has joined a selected group of seven athletes, who won at least two editions of the major Italian combined events meeting, following into the footsteps of Liliana Nastase, Irina Vostrikova, Svetlana Kazanina, Margaret Simpson, Jessica Ennis Hill and Sofia Yfantidou.
“I was hoping for better weather, but I am really proud of my performance. I really enjoyed competing at the Multistars for the second consecutive year. It was an amazing competition. I am planning to compete at the Hypo Meeting in Goetzis and at the US Olympic Trials, where I am aiming at a better score. I want to make the team for the Olympic Games in Paris”, said Brooks.
O’Connor finished second with 6104 points. The Irish athlete won the Gabre Gabric Award as she achieved the best combined score of 2488 points in the javelin throw, in the long jump and the shot put.
“My first day was shaky. I turned around in the second day. I am happy that I came away with second place. I performed well in the long jump and in the javelin throw. I will compete in another heptathlon before the European Championships in Rome. My biggest goal is to qualify for the Olympic Games”, said O’Connor.
Swiss under 23 Katelyn Adel placed third with a lifetime best of 6082 points. Adel won the 800 metres in 2:12.66. Lovisa Karlsson finished fourth improving her PB to 6051 points. Bianca Salming, the daughter of ice hockey legend Borje Salming, took fifth place with 5915 points ahead of Poland’s Julia Slocka (5891 points).
Men’s decathlon:
José Ferreira Santana from Brazil clocked the fastest time in the third heat of the 110 metres hurdles with 13.88 beating Gerald Izaguirre (14.14). Jente Hauttekeete won the second heat in 14.44. Hautteskeete, who ended the first day in second place just one point behind France’s Teo Bastien, took the lead in the overall standings with 5071 points ahead of his French opponent in a close fight for first place. Bastien clocked the fourth fastest time with 14.51 in the 110 metres hurdles. Ferreira Santana moved into third place with 4976 points ahead of Ford (4887 points).
Santiago Ford from Chile won the discus throw with a best mark of 47.84m in the second attempt ahead of Adam Helcelet (47.61m). Bastien improved his PB to 43.49m to regain the lead in the overall standings with 5800 points. The Frenchman had a gap of 42 points over Hauttekeete, who produced a best throw of 40.13m.
Bastien finished second in the pole vault with a PB of 5.05m behind Robin Bodart from Belgium (5.15m) to bring his total score to 6726 points. Hauttekeete cleared 4.85m to finish third in this discipline. Bastien increased his lead over Hauttekeete to 123 points. Ferreira Santana placed fifth with 4.65m to hold on to the third place with 6508 points.
Ferreira Santana threw to 67.47m in the javelin to claim his second win in the second day. The South American champion moved into second place with 7359 points. Bastien defended a lead of 60 points with his total score of 7419 points after setting his third PB of the second day with 56.98m. Hauttekeete improved his javelin PB to 56.04m before clocking 4:30.80 in the 1500 metres to take the win with 8020 points. The Belgian athlete has become the first athlete from his country to win at the Multistars after Frederic Xhonnneaux in 2008. Hauttekete did not win any event but he showed good consistency.
Hauttekeete won the European under 20 gold medal in Tallin breaking his own Belgian record for his age group with 8150 points and the world under 20 silver medal in Nairobi in 2021. He set the world under 20 indoor best in the heptathlon with 6062 points in Frankfurt in 2021. His father Hendrik Hauttekeete was a long jumper and a sprinter. His mother Melanie Moreels was a former 400 metres hurdles and heptathlete, who won six Belgian titles.
“The decathlon did not start in perfect weather conditions. The high jump was not held in good circumstances but weather caused problems to everyone. I am really happy that I ended the second day with a win”, said Hauttekeete.
Risto Lillemets from Estonia moved into second place with 7971 points after a solid second day highlighted by 43.94m in the discus throw, 62.69m in the javelin and 4:27.53 in the 1500 metres. Lillemets overtook Bastien, who clocked 5:02.75 to finish third with 7963 points. Ferreira ran the 1500 metres in 4:56.87 to finish fourth with 7937 points ahead of Adam Helcelet from Czech Republic (7824). Andrin Huber from Switzerland won the 1500 metres in 4:23.99 to finish sixth with 7638 points ahead of Robin Boddart (7585).
