Hungary’s Xenia Krizsan set a world lead and national record of 6651 points for victory in the heptathlon at the prestigious Gotzis Hypomeeting on Sunday (30) afternoon.
Krizsan trailed Anouk Vetter from the Netherlands prior to the 800m but the European indoor pentathlon bronze medallist easily closed the gap with a strong final event, clocking 2:11.51 in the 800m to Vetter’s 2:22.33.
In total, Krizsan set four individual lifetime bests - 13.31 in the 100m hurdles, 14.47m in the shot put, 24.32 in the 200m and 6.41m in the long jump - to ameliorate her national record by 32 points and become the first ever Hungarian victor in Gotzis.
“Now my next competition will be the Olympics. A lot of people go there with the podium as their goal, probably now me too. This victory at Götzis was very important to me in believing now that it might really get there,” Krizsan told Hungarian media after the competition.
Vetter might not have been able to arrest Krizsan’s late charge but the 2016 European heptathlon champion was a clear runner-up overall with 6536 points, her best score outside of a major championships. Vetter excelled in the throws with 15.32m in the shot put and 54.77m in the javelin, although her campaign almost came to an ignominious end after two no-throws in the shot put.
Kendell Williams from the United States was third with 6383 points with Finland's Maria Huntington fourth with 6318 points. There were also lifetime bests for Germany's Vanessa Grimm (6316 points), Poland's Adrianna Sulek (6315 points) and Esther Oosterwegel (6308 points) in fifth, sixth and seventh respectively.
Behind Canada’s Damian Warner who moved to fourth on the world all-time decathlon list with an astonishing score of 8995 points and his compatriot Pierce LePage with 8534 points, 2016 European champion Thomas van der Plaetsen from Belgium amassed a lifetime best and Olympic qualifying standard of 8430 points to finish third.
European bronze medallist Vitaly Zhuk from Belaurs also came away with a lifetime best but just missed the Olympic qualifying standard of 8350 points in fourth with 8331 points. World decathlon champion Niklas Kaul from Germany was fifth with 8263 points.
Bol opens outdoor season with Dutch 400m record of 50.56
In her first individual outdoor race of the season, double European indoor champion Femke Bol from the Netherlands set yet another national record in Oordegem, Belgium on Saturday (29).
Bol won the 400m in a European lead and Dutch record of 50.56 to erase the previous record of 50.77 held by European outdoor bronze medallist and relay teammate Lisanne de Witte.
Bol will contest her first 400m hurdles of the season next weekend at the FBK Games in Hengelo. For posterity, Bol’s national record stands at 53.79 set last year at her training base in Papendal.
Her training partner Lieke Klaver won the 200m in 22.83 and Jochem Dobber clocked 45.52 in the men’s 400m.
Elsewhere, Brit Jessica Turner made a significant improvement with victory in the 400m hurdles, taking nearly one second off her lifetime best to win in 54.77 to move to second on the 2021 European list behind compatriot Jessie Knight with 54.74.
France’s Alexis Phelut also won the 3000m steeplechase in a European leading time of 8:18.67 ahead of Sweden’s Emil Blomberg in 8:20.55.
Pettersson defeats Stahl in Vaxjo
Simon Pettersson handed his more illustrious training partner Daniel Stahl a rare defeat in the discus in Vaxjo on Saturday (29).
Pettersson smashed his lifetime best with 69.48m to defeat Stahl’s best valid mark of 69.11m. “I do not think it has really sunk in yet, I can not ask for a better start to the season,” Pettersson told SVT after the competition.
However, Stahl was reported to have had two no-throws which were measured at 73.83m and 73.69m. The world record is still held by East Germany’s Jurgen Schult with 74.08m.
Elsewhere, their training partner Fanny Roos set a national record and European leading mark of 19.30m in the shot put.
Elsewhere around Europe...
Four days after uncorking a world leading mark of 8.60m in Kallithea, European indoor and outdoor champion Miltiadis Tentoglou highlighted the Venizela-Hania meeting on Sunday (30) with a winning jump of 8.27m in the long jump.
Other highlights included Simas Bertasius winning the 1500m in a Lithuanian record of 3:37.82 and former European U20 high jump champion Michaela Hruba clearing 1.91m for victory in the high jump.
At the Belfast Irish Milers Meet in Belfast on Saturday (29), Alex Bell became the fourth Brit this season to break the 1:59-barrier in the 800m. Bell improved her lifetime best to 1:58.52 to move to third on the 2021 European list behind Jemma Reekie (1:58.27) and Laura Muir (1:58.46) but ahead of Keely Hodgkinson's recently set European U20 record of 1:58.89.
Multiple Irish champion and record-holder Phil Healy also impressed, winning both the 200m and 400m in 23.29 and 51.50 respectively.
In Meilen, Switzerland on Saturday, teenager Ditaji Kambundji broke the 13 second-barrier for the first time in the 100m hurdles with 12.99. Kambundji moves to third on the European all-time list behind Elvira Herman from Belarus with 12.85 and Ukraine's Yelena Krasovska with 12.88.