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33 years after Werner Günthör, Switzerland has another indoor world champion. Simon Ehammer’s tactics worked perfectly.
In 1997, Anita Weyermann sensationally won World Cup bronze over 1500 m in Athens. What was remembered more than the Bernese woman’s medal coup, however, was Weyermann’s quip “Gring abe and secle” from those title fights.
When Simon Ehammer saw his gold medal disappear at the World Indoor Championships in Glasgow over 1000 m, the final heptathlon discipline, no “Gring abe and secle” went through his head. Nearly. As discussed with his coach Karl Wyler, the motto after 800 m was: “Brush down”. Ehammer turned on the turbo in the last 200 m and did not allow the gap to the unleashed Sander Skotheim (NOR) to grow any further. With success: the Appenzell team saved gold by the narrowest of margins.
«I knew that Skotheim had brutal values in this discipline. “I just wanted to run at my pace and stay under 2:47 so that I could break the 6,400 point mark,” analyzed Ehammer. “After 800 m I realized that I was going a little too slowly.” That’s why at that moment it was a matter of “pressing the accelerator” for him – or simply “put the brush down”.
An “acceptable runner” in Glasgow
Despite four discipline victories (60 m, long jump, 60 m hurdles and pole vault), Ehammer found the fly in the ointment in the hour of his great triumph. “The high jump put a bit of a damper on my plans. “That made the whole thing a little tighter than I had hoped,” said Ehammer.
At the end of the first day, Ehammer had to make do with 1.95 m in the 4th discipline. His personal best in the high jump is 2.08 m.
Overall, Ehammer described his World Cup heptathlon as a “strict two days in which I performed at a mega high level”. The 1000 m run “demanded everything” from him and he was “extremely happy” that it was enough in the end. The 24-year-old added with a smile: “With a time of 2:46 minutes, you’re a pretty acceptable runner.”
33 years after “Kugel-Werni”
With his World Cup title in Glasgow, Ehammer’s medal collection takes on even more impressive form, as he already has World Cup bronze in the long jump (Eugene 2022) and heptathlon silver in the indoor event (Belgrade 2022) at adult level. In addition, the Appenzeller is the first Swiss man since shot putter Werner Günthör 33 years ago to win an indoor world championship title.