“I thought the 60m was faster” said World and European Indoor silver medallist Sander Skotheim, ruefully, after the first event at the Tallinn combined events meeting this weekend. “But if the long jump goes well, I’m looking for an overall PB.”
The “sluggish” 60m to which the Norwegian, also the European outdoor silver medallist, was referring was 7.04s. It was the fourth fastest overall behind the Estonian trio of Hans-Christian Hausenberg (6.85s), Risto Lillemets (7.01s) and Taavi Tšernjavski (7.03s, in his final competition). Given Skotheim’s PB is 6.99s, and this was his first competition of the year, that mild disappointment hinted that something special was brewing.
Tallinn is no stranger to long horizontal leaps, with both Skotheim and Hausenberg closing in on 8m at previous iterations of the competition. After setting a PB of 8.03m at the Olympics, the prospect of “going well” for Skotheim promised something exciting.
In his first leap of the competition, Skotheim jumped to 8.19m, two centimetres short of the Norwegian record set by Ingar Bratseth-Kiplesund in Botswana in April 2023. It’s also 37cm further than the World Indoor heptathlon champion Simon Ehammer jumped in Clermont Ferrand last weekend. By any definition, that was “going well.”

Typically, Skotheim logs his big points in the fourth event of the day, the high jump where he can go to 2.19m, 2.20m at best (outside a combined event). The shot put has never been where he makes his moves, although it has improved steadily in recent years from 13.84 in 2022, his first year as a senior, to 14.58m in Glasgow last March.
Rasmus Roosleht, the 22-year-old Estonian who competed with Skotheim at the European U23s in Espoo in 2023, landed his typical 16m plus throw, with a best of 16.59, just three cm short of his own PB. But – again in the first round – Skotheim broke new ground in the heavy throw. A 42cm improvement to 15m exactly, transforming one of his weaker events into a strength.

Furthermore, it didn’t seem to be much of a surprise. When asked where the huge long jump had come from, Skotheim responded “I’ve no idea – it’s crazy. I was expecting a shot PB, expecting that way more than the long jump.”
And if, in my preview, I pondered at what point Kevin Mayer’s European record would be broken this season, I’d now advise that Kev start putting his affairs in order and prepare to say his farewells to that particular entry in his resume.
Ehammer and Skotheim were less than 100 points from the European record last year in Glasgow, and it is clearly well within reach for both. Skotheim’s first three events this weekend suggest he might get there first, and it was with anticipation we awaited his piece de resistance, the high jump, where he typically leaves competitors behind.
On this occasion, however, it was “only” 2.06m, some 13cm short of Skotheim’s best. “The high jump was good,” he said afterwards, “just the timing of clearances a bit off.”

Skotheim finished the first day in Tallinn with 3627 points. That’s 80 points ahead of his Day 1 score in Glasgow last year, where he scored his current PB of 6407. Mayer’s European record is 6479.
If Skotheim can match his PBs tomorrow: 7.93s (999 points) in the 60m hurdles, 5.35m (1020) in the pole vault, and 2:33.23s (950) in the 1000m, that would bring 2969 points to the table, nudging the score beyond Ayden Owens-Delerme (6518) and up towards Kyle Garland (6639) and Ashton Eaton (6645 WR) levels.
That’s unlikely, mostly because Skotheim’s combined event pole vault best is 5.10m. A height of 5.10m would in itself be a cause for celebration, given his no-height in Paris, and a mere 4.60m en route to 8635 in Rome.
But 5.10m would still put Skotheim on course for 6500. We may see something special tomorrow in Tallinn.
For the competition itself, Skotheim is over 200 points ahead of Rasmus Roosleht (on 3406) and Hans Christian Hausenberg (on 3329) and is well clear. But there’s an interesting domestic battle in play between Roosleht, HCH and Lillemets, with Yuma Maruyama and Vilem Strasky still in the mix too.
After four events:
- Skotheim 3627
- Roosleht 3406
- HCH 3329
- Maruyama 3193
- Lillemets 3178
- Strasky 3159
- Meyer 3107
- Tšernjavski 3102
- Loose 3072
- Roasto 2972
- Soto 2961
- Skadins 2959
- Jaanson 2818
Words and photos: Gabby Pieraccini
