Switzerland's Simon Ehammer and Great Britain's Keely Hodgkinson have been voted men’s and women’s Athlete of the Month for March 2026.
Five female and five male athletes were nominated for the accolade based purely on their exploits throughout the month with voting taking place across the week on the European Athletics website.
This was the second month in succession that Hodgkinson has been voted women’s Athlete of the Month while Ehammer succeeds Emmanouil Karalis who cleared 6.17m in the pole vault in February.
Ehammer eclipses Eaton's world record in Torun
Ehammer made heptathlon history at the 2026 World Athletics Indoor Championships in Kujawy Pomorze by breaking Ashton Eaton’s world record of 6645 points with 6670 points.
The 25-year-old was on course to improve Sander Skotheim’s European record of 6558 points after an excellent day one but an even better second day propelled the Swiss star to a world record total.
Ehammer began his second morning with a lifetime best and world heptathlon best of 7.52 in the 60m hurdles before clearing 5.30m on his third attempt in the pole vault - his best ever clearance in a combined events competition - to put the record clearly within his grasp.
Ehammer put the finishing touches to his multi-event masterclass with a 1000m PB of 2:41:04 to take his total up to 6670 points, eclipsing Eaton’s long-standing world record by 25 points.
What he said:
On breaking the world record
"For the moment, I am speechless because my dream came true. I badly wanted to improve my European record here but it was difficult to imagine that the world record would be possible as well.
On succeeding Ashton Eaton
"I cannot even count how many times I have been watching Ashton Eaton competing in decathlon and heptathlon. I learned a lot from him and now I have broken his world record. By the way, I already spoke with him by phone. It was a pleasure. It's incredible."
A world title for Hodgkinson...at last!
It is easy to forget that Keely Hodgkinson hadn’t won a world title prior to the 2026 World Athletics Indoor Championships but the Brit completed the set of major 800m titles and she did so in style.
In her first 800m since breaking the world indoor record with 1:54.87 in Lievin, Hodgkinson forged to a gun-to-tape victory in a championship record of 1:55.30, the second fastest time in history indoors after her world record. However, Hodgkinson arguably generated more headlines for her eye-catching 50.10 anchor leg in the 4x400m final less than an hour later.
Hodgkinson’s victory in the 800m final completed a golden 30 minutes for the British team. Her training partner and fellow nominee Georgia Hunter Bell provided the first half of a middle distance double in the 1500m before Molly Caudery vaulted to her second world indoor title in the pole vault.
What she said:
On winning her first world title
"This is my first world title. I have been in so many finals, I have been a favourite so many times and I had not won, so to do that and prove to myself that I can do it, remove the pressure and win the gold, it's nice."
On being voted Athlete of the Month twice
"The first time was so nice, delighted to do it twice. It’s been another great month, and I appreciate the recognition from everyone."