Since January, the Glasgow pentathlon had been all about Maria.
Her world lead of 4728 might have been no higher than the best global mark ahead of the previous World Indoors in Belgrade in 2022. It was no higher than the equivalent going into the world record edition of the European Indoors in Istanbul in 2023.
But that number against Maria Vicente’s name signalled more than a great competition to come, or the promise of a standout pentathlon performance in Glasgow. It represented a return, a firm step on the path back to combined events. A half decade has passed since the Spaniard won the 2019 European U20 heptathlon title. Those five years have been beset by far more than a fair share of injuries for Vicente.
At last, it seemed the stars were aligning. A successful year in the horizontal jumps charted the course for the Spanish star to feature on senior combined events podiums. Maria was back.
But before those stars could fully align, the sky fell in. As Vicente approached her first attempt at 1.73m, her achilles ruptured, she fell to the bed and her progress was once again extinguished.
“We have seen the doctors and I have a complete rupture of the Achilles tendon. In Barcelona, the same doctor who operated me the other time, will operate me again. Thank you very much for the support. And I will return for sure, as I already did before,” she said afterwards.
So, the Glasgow pentathlon competition essentially restarted, reset to the dynamic of the remaining 10 women. The 17-year-old Croatian Jana Koscak had withdrawn after the hurdles.
With the 2024 4700 score off the table, the challenge was reframed between the high-performing 4500 scores of the early season, and the unknown form of the other 4700 athlete in the field – the defending champion, Noor Vidts of Belgium, who had not competed beyond a few individual events this season.
Vidts’ start was, as ever, understated. The Belgian has the ability to quietly collect points, which then somehow combine to make a stellar score, driving the dynamic of the pentathlon from the back seat.
While Vicente dashed to the second-best time of her career, 8.07s, in the hurdles, Vidts was timed at 8.27s, just a fraction faster than Sveva Gerevini in 8.28s and Sofie Dokter in a 0.5s PB of 8.29s. Chari Hawkins was closest to Vicente in a PB of 8.16s and Britain’s Abi Pawlett next with 8.25s.
In the high jump, while Bianca Salming left the rest of the field behind below 1.80m to pursue – on this occasion unsuccessfully – the long wind up to the 1.90s, Vidts topped out at 1.79m, the same height as Vanninen and one more than Hawkins, Dokter and Gerevini.
Those two performances, alongside Vicente’s departure, put Vidts in the lead by 11 points, although she would surrender it to Vanninen immediately. After two events, only 80 points covered the top five – Hawkins and Vanninen 11 points behind Vidts, Gerevini 27 points further back, and then just another two to Sofie Dokter.
In the shot Vanninen demonstrated her 15m+ ability, and edged ahead of Vidts, her 15.01m to Vidts’ 14.26m turning her 11-point deficit to a 40-point advantage. However, unless the young Finn were to reveal a new 800m strategy, the Belgian would have plenty in reserve in her final two events, the strongest in her arsenal, to ease into the gold medal position.
In the meantime, the challenge of the athletes who had reached 4500 for the first time earlier in the year was waning. Szabina Szucs of Hungary had a disappointing high jump, hampered by a heel problem, and she only cleared 1.64m compared to the 1.79m she has achieved this year.
The Swede Bianca Salming’s high jump and shot were both well short of her exploits earlier in the season – 1.82m compared to 1.88m, and 13.93m compared to 14.73m.
In parallel, Yuliya Loban’s signature shot let her down. The Ukrainian threw only 13.90m, over a metre short of the 15.24m she threw in Tallinn in February. It appeared, too, that Sofie Dokter was a little short of what she might need to challenge for the gold, with only 1.76m in the high jump (compared to her season’s best of 1.84m) and 13.04m (13.92m SB and PB).
So, with two events to go, the gold medal in the Glasgow pentathlonappeared headed for Vidts and silver headed for Vanninen. The Finn was on 2883, the Belgian 2845. But an umbrella of only 80 points covered Hawkins in third, through Verena Mayr, Loban, Dokter, and Salming to Sveva Gerevini in eighth place.
And the Italian was going really well. An equal PB in the high jump, and mere slivers away from her hurdles and shot lifetime bests. Looking at those above her in the placings below Vanninen, only Mayr had a better combination of events than Gerevini, and the points were close enough for a medal to be in reach.
Vidts wound up to her best jump, 6.20m, 6.40m then 6.50m. Vanninen similarly landed 6.41m in the final round, gold and silver now beyond question. Vanninen was on 3861, Vidts nine points behind but capable of a time ten seconds faster and offering 130 points more to unleash in the 800m.
Next best was Gerevini with 6.26m, just 8cm short of her best, and then Dokter with 6.20m, just 11cm short of hers. Mirroring the top two, in fourth place Gerevini was 10 points behind Dokter, but capable of running over six seconds faster and with some 100 points more to deploy in the 800m.
It seemed a sure thing that while Noor would overtake Saga, Sveva would similarly overtake Sofie.
Since the 800m represented the finale, special introductions were in order. The field jogged out through the neon presentation arch, and the final three were introduced individually – Sofie, then Noor, then Saga. Amidst the celebration of the greatest athletes in the world, the production felt bittersweet, Saga about to be overtaken by Noor, Sofie almost certainly to be overtaken by Sveva.
In the early laps of the 800m Dokter stayed close to Gerevini, as would be expected, each with a hand on the bronze medal. Dokter trying to hold on, Gerevini trying to seize the medal away from her. Any moment now, Gerevini would kick away leaving her slower competitor behind.
Another 50m passed, and they were still together. Another lap. Another 50m. Coming into the home straight, Dokter was still there and pushing ahead, not only ahead of Gerevini but in front of the entire field. In the final few steps, Gerevini stumbled, somehow staying on her feet but the recovery was immaterial. Dokter refused to surrender points to the Italian, not only matching her, but running faster, a four-second PB of 2:11.89 to Gerevini’s 2:12.07. The shaky 10-point lead had turned into a 12-point margin of victory.
Sofie said afterwards “This is the biggest moment of my career so far, and my first medal with the seniors, so I’m really happy. It was a rollercoaster. The hurdles started really great with a personal best, so I was really happy. The high jump was a little bit the opposite. I was a little disappointed but I thought I will make it up with the shot put but that didn’t go the way I wanted either.”
“During the break I recharged myself so that I could look at the long jump and 800m as a new competition, a new day. The long jump went great, just a small fault, and I knew I needed to run the 800m as fast as I possibly could. I knew coming into today’s competition, everyone was close together. I wanted to get into my mindset I was taking home a medal and it worked so I’m happy.”
The consolation for Gerevini was another Italian record, improving her 4538 from Clermont Ferrand to 4559.
Saga Vanninen reflected: “It was great today and very surprising. After the high jump, I started to believe I could actually win a medal here.”
And the double world champion, Noor Vidts said: “Nothing went really bad, but some things were just so-so, but I am very happy with the long jump and the shot put and, of course, with the win. I am sorry for Maria Vicente – I hope she is OK.”
And as we wish Maria well in her recovery, it turned out the Glasgow pentathlon was all about Noor, Saga…and Sofie.
