A lifetime best of 60.50 in the javelin, which was cheered effusively by the Swiss contingent in the Fana Stadium, effectively sealed decathlon gold for Andrin Huber at the European Athletics U23 Championships in Bergen on Friday (18) evening with 8188 points.
Bergen 2025 is being live streamed on the European Athletics website courtesy of Eurovision Sport.
Only 31 points separated the top three after the pole vault but Huber, who equalled his lifetime best of 4.80m in the seventh event to assume the overall lead for the first time by 15 points, surged into a comfortable lead of 138 points after launching the javelin out to 60.50m which took his total up to 7397 points.
Jeff Tesselaar from the Netherlands performed up to standard in the javelin with 53.33m in the first pool to keep his title hopes alive but it was at this juncture that Great Britain’s Sammy Ball dropped out of medal contention. A 53.07m performer at his best, Ball was limited to a best of 41.86m in Bergen and fell from third to sixth overall.
With a lifetime best of 4:08.31, Tesselaar is by far the fastest decathlete in the 1500m and he led every step of the way in a brave but ultimately forlorn bid to land the title, crossing the line in 4:14.54 almost nine seconds ahead of Huber who clocked 4:23.09 in second.
Tesselaar reduced the gap on Huber to 80 points but his front running heroics were not enough to change the destination of the medals. Huber won gold with 8188 points ahead of Tesselaar (8108 points) with France’s Antoine Ferranti, who was eighth after the 110m hurdles, making steady progress up the standings on the second day to win bronze with 8032 points.
Huber was lying in fourth overnight with 4158 points but gradually climbed through the overall rankings on the second day. He was the second fastest performer in the 110m hurdles with 14.23 which was followed by a 41.75m discus and a 4.80m pole vault which took Huber into a lead which he would not relinquish.
"This victory means absolutely everything to me. It was my goal for the whole season to medal here. Since I came here it was my only goal, I did not care about the points. And to see it all come together now is absolutely amazing," said Huber who is a training partner of Simon Ehammer, the 2024 world indoor heptathlon champion.
But while Ehammer is a combined eventer who dazzles in the long jump and 110m hurdles, Huber is a steadier performer across the 10-events. This consistency was rewarded in Bergen.
"I am an athlete who does not get big points in certain events; I am just always in the middle of the field. I just have to be patient and then I move slowly up in the score. And in the end, now, everything worked out. I just need to know what I can do and be consistent, then there will be a big score overall," he said.
Overnight leader Roko Farkas’ medal aspirations came to grief in the pole vault. The Croatian was still leading after the discus with a total of 5864 points but the world U20 long jump champion succumbed to a knee injury, causing him to no-height in the pole vault.
