Sander Skotheim set a new European heptathlon record of 6558 points at the European Indoor Championships in Apeldoorn, moving to third place on the world indoor heptathlon all-time list. The 22-year-old Norwegian claimed his first major title on March 8, 2025, surpassing his previous best achieved just a month earlier in Tallinn. Skotheim triumphed by 52 points over world indoor champion Simon Ehammer from Switzerland, who finished with 6506 points. Germany’s Till Steinforth secured the bronze with 6388 points, narrowly edging out Estonia’s Johannes Erm, who finished with 6380 points.
Skotheim’s performance included two personal bests and two championship heptathlon bests, leading him to his record score. His day one events began with a 60m PB of 6.93 seconds, followed by a 7.95m leap in the long jump and a 14.39m throw in the shot put. He capped off his first day by matching the championship heptathlon best in the high jump, clearing 2.19m.
On the second day, Skotheim continued his strong performance with a time of 8.04 seconds in the 60m hurdles, followed by a 5.10m clearance in the pole vault. With the European record in sight, he smashed his previous mark by running a championship heptathlon best in the 1000m. His time of 2:32.72 in the final event secured his record tally of 6558 points, giving him the gold.
Ehammer, who had a remarkable 1000m performance of 2:41.76, earned a Swiss record of 6506 points, which surpassed Skotheim’s former European record. This result also moved Ehammer to fifth on the world all-time list. The Swiss athlete had an outstanding long jump performance, reaching a championship heptathlon best of 8.20m, an event in which he won individual world bronze in 2022.
In other events at the European Indoor Championships, Italian track star Andy Diaz Hernandez and Ukraine’s Oleh Doroshchuk each set world-leading marks in their disciplines. Diaz Hernandez leaped 17.71m in the triple jump to win the title, achieving the second-best mark of his career. He triumphed ahead of Germany’s Max Hess, who earned his fifth consecutive European indoor triple jump medal with a jump of 17.43m. Meanwhile, Doroshchuk dominated the high jump, clearing all his heights up to and including 2.34m on his first attempts to win the gold.
The host nation, the Netherlands, celebrated a victory in the women’s 400m, where Olympic champion Lieke Klaver ran a European-leading 50.38 seconds to take the gold. Klaver narrowly defeated Norway’s Henriette Jaeger by just 0.07 seconds, while Spain’s Paula Sevilla claimed the bronze with a time of 50.99, equaling the Spanish national record.
In the men’s 60m, Great Britain’s Jeremiah Azu claimed gold with a personal best time of 6.49 seconds, going under 6.50 for the first time. He edged Sweden’s Henrik Larsson, who set a national record of 6.52 for silver. Azu’s compatriot Andrew Robertson earned the bronze, clocking a national record of 6.55 seconds, narrowly beating home favorite Elvis Afrifa.
In the men’s 400m, Hungary’s Attila Molnar surged ahead early, passing the halfway mark in 21.27 seconds, and held on to win the title in 45.25 seconds. Poland’s Maksymilian Szwed finished second, setting a European U23 and Polish indoor record of 45.31 seconds.
Switzerland’s Angelica Moser reclaimed the pole vault title by clearing 4.80m on her first attempt, securing gold ahead of Slovenia’s Tina Sutej, who cleared 4.75m. Italy’s Larissa Iapichino added indoor long jump gold to her European outdoor silver with a jump of 6.94m. Iapichino beat Switzerland’s Annik Kalin, who set a national indoor record of 6.90m, and Germany’s two-time world champion Malaika Mihambo, who clinched bronze with a jump of 6.88m, thanks to her final attempt.
