Poland’s Hubert Troscianka regained the decathlon lead in record-breaking fashion in the 400m at the European Athletics U20 Championships in Tampere on Thursday (7) evening.
Having temporarily ceded the lead in the high jump to Dutchman Luuk Pelkmans who cleared a lifetime best of 2.06m, Troscianka moved back into pole position with a one-lap demolition in the 400m.
Troscianka stopped the clock at an incredible 46.21 to shatter not just the European U20 400m decathlon best but also the world U20 equivalent which belonged to Australia’s Ashley Moloney - who was crowned world U20 decathlon champion on this track in 2018 - at 46.75.
And to put Troscianka’s performance into further context, his time was also significantly faster than the fastest time - 46.46 by Czechia’s Ondrej Loupal - in the men’s 400m heats this morning.
Troscianka regains the lead after five events with 4361 points ahead of Pelkmans (4294 points) with Germany’s Paul Günther making steady progress up to third overall (4075 points). Sweden’s Elias Kapell climbs back up to fourth after five events with (4073 points) after clocking 48.39 in the 400m, the second fastest time of the day.
Troscianka began his campaign in auspicious form, breaking his lifetime best in the 100m with 10.74 before maintaining his advantage with a 7.26m long jump and a 15.48m shot put. He lost his lead temporarily after the high jump before seizing control of the competition in destructive style in the 400m.
