Pole vaulter wipes out heptathlete in scary moment at World Athletics Indoor Championships

There was a heart-stopping moment at the World Athletics Indoor Championships as one of the competing athletes was struck by a flying pole while taking part in the 1,000m event of the men’s heptathlon.

Switzerland’s Simon Ehammer recorded a time of two minutes 41.04 seconds to claim heptathlon gold and set a new a world-record total of 6670 points, eclipsing the previous record held by Ashton Eaton (6645 points).

American duo Heath Baldwin and Kyle Garland finished third and sixth in the 1,000m respectively to take home silver and bronze in a fittingly thrilling finale to an absorbing heptathlon.

However, there was a moment in the all-important 1km dash that many viewers watching on may have missed as the competing heptathletes hared around track at the Arena Torun in Poland.

With the men’s pole vault final taking place simultaneously in the middle of the track, the Czech Republic’s David Holy limbered up for his attempt in the hope of putting himself amongst the medals.

But Holy stuttered in his run-up and clattered into the bar, in turn sending his pole crashing into Jose Fernando Ferreira positioned at the back of the pack in the 1,000m.

One of the officials sat beside the track tried to prevent the pole from falling and disrupting the heptathlon event, but Ferreira collapsed to the floor, where he remained for several seconds.

Remarkably, Ferreira soon managed to return to his feet to finish the race – coming home in last place with a time of 2:56.47, seven seconds behind his nearest rival Teo Bastien.

In the overall standings, the 26-year-old Brazilian finished down in 12th spot with a points total of 5627, with only France’s Makenson Gletty and Italy’s Dario Dester beneath him as they were unable to finish.

He can perhaps take some comfort in the fact his new pole vaulting arch-nemesis, Holy, also had a day to forget after finishing last with a best recorded height of 5.50m.

Swedish pole vault superstar Mondo Duplantis increased his own championship record to 6.25m to come out on top and seal his fourth successive world indoor title.

The new poster boy of the men’s heptathlon, Ehammer, said he was left ‘speechless’ after his extraordinary performance across the seven gruelling track and field events of the heptathlon.

‘I am speechless because my dream came true,’ the 26-year-old Swiss told reporters after claiming a record-breaking gold.

‘I badly wanted to improve my European record here but it was difficult to imagine that the world record would be possible as well.

‘I cannot even count how many times I have been watching Eaton competing in decathlon and pentathlon.

‘I learned a lot from him and now I have broken his world record. I already spoke with him by phone. It was a pleasure.’

Ehammer thanked his fellow competitors for pushing him and providing added ‘motivation’ to achieve his goals in the sport.

‘I am very grateful for all guys in the field,’ he continued.

‘We were in a great fight and it motivated me a lot.

‘I started to believe that anything is possible even after our first day of competition.’

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