Ehammer and Barreira are the overnight leaders at the Multistars in Brescia
Simon Ehammer from Switzerland and Jessica Barreira from Portugal are the overnight leaders at the 39th edition of the Multistars at the Gabre Gabric athletics stadium in Brescia.
Ehammer leads the decathlon standings with 4490 points ahead of Julio Angulo from Colombia (4303) and Nino Portmann from Switzerland (4156).
Barreira leads the standings in the women’s heptathlon with 3665 with a margin of 35 points over Lovisa Nilsson from Sweden (3630).
Men’s decathlon:
World indoor champion and record holder Simon Ehammer from Switzerland won the 100 metres in 10.81 into a headwind of -0.6 m/s edging his compatriot Nino Portmann (10.83) and José Fernando Ferreira (10.89). Ehammer led the overall standings with 903 points after the first event.
Ehammer improved Teo Bastien’s meeting record in the long jump with 7.86m in the second round before leaping to a wind-assisted 8.18m (+3.5 m/s) in the third round. Ehammer produced the first jump beyond the 8 metres in the history of the Multistars in any wind-conditions, although it is not valid as a new meeting record. Colombia’s Julio Angulo, who set the national record with 8089 points last December, leapt to a wind-assisted 7.63 (+2.9 m/s). Nino Portmann took third place with a wind-assisted 7.48m (+2.6 m/s) ahead of Brazil’s Pedro De Oliveira (7.46 -2.5 m/s) and Italy’ Andrea Cerrato (7.31m). Ehammer led with 2010 points after two events ahead of Angulo (1839) and Portmann (1829).
Rafal Horbowicz from Poland won the shot put with 14.70. Angulo improved his PB twice to 14.51m. Portmann also improved his lifetime best to 14.49m. Ehammer threw to 14.31m to consolidate his leading position with 2757 points ahead of Angulo (2599) and Portmann (2587).
Angulo cleared 2.01m on his third attempt to win the high jump, just one cm off his PB, before failing three attempts at 2.04m. Ehammer needed three attempts at 1.98m before failing three attempts at 2.01m. Ehammer led after four events with 3542 points, 130 more than Angulo.
Ehammer won the 400 metres equalling his PB with 47.18. The Swiss athlete claimed his third individual win in the first day. Lorenzo Mellano, who ran the fastest ever Italian time In a decathlon 400 metres race with 47.08 at last year’s Italian Combined Events Championships, finished second in 47.68 ahead of Andrea Cerrato (48.34) and Angulo (48.37). Ehammer has a lead of 187 points ove Angulo after five events. Nino Portmann is third with 4156 points.
“It was a pretty good first day. Last year the weather was a bit cold. This year the conditions today were perfect. I really enjoy starting the outdoor season at the Multistars to test my form ahead of Goetzis and the European Championships in Birmingham. It was tough to compete again after the World Indoor Championships in Torun. My goal there was to improve the European record, but the competition went beyond my expectations with a world record”, said Ehammer.
Women’s heptathlon:
Lovisa Karlsson from Sweden started the women’s heptathlon with a win in the 100 metres hurdles in 13.38 into a headwind of -0.9m/s in her strongest event, where she holds a PB of 13.08. Vilma Italinna from Finland, fifth at the Multistars last year, finished second in 13.55.
Under 20 athlete Natacha Candé from Portugal, who was born in 2007, cleared 1.80m in the second attempt to win the high jump. Mathilde Rey, Swiss high jump champion in 2023, placed second with 1.77m ahead of Karlsson (1.74m). Melanie Winter cleared 1.71m beating Hanna Van Baast from the Netherlands on countback. Karlsson led with 1971 points ahead of Candé (1932 points) and Van Baast (1887).
Jessica Barreira from Portugal won the shot put with 14.92m achieving the sixth best performance in the history of the Multistars. Niamh Emerson from Great Britain, world under 20 champion in Tampere 2018 and European indoor silver medallist in Glasgow 2019, improved her PB to 14.10m beating Rey (13.92m. Nilsson threw to 12.74m. Barreira moved into the lead in the overall standings with 2720 points ahead of Nilsson (2681), Rey (2673), Candé (2668) and Emerson (2525).
Italinna clocked the fastest time in the 200 metres with 23.78 ahead of Nilsson (24.33) in the third race. Barreira won the second race in 24.38 to maintain her lead in the overall standings with 3665 points. The Portuguese athlete had just 35 points over Nilsson (3630). Candé was ranked third with 3535 ahead of Italinna (3518).
