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It was a crime thriller set in Glasgow (Scho) on Sunday. Simon Ehammer (24), title favorite in the heptathlon, saved a lead of only 11 points in the last and seventh discipline, the 1000 meters running. «As I ran across the finish line, the math started happening in my head. I knew it would be silver or gold,” the Appenzell resident says cheerfully the next day via a video call from the airport in Scotland. Anxious waiting was eventually followed by unbridled cheering. Ehammer won the first gold medal of his elite career.
Ehammer and his team did not celebrate this gold in the typical Scottish way in the pub with a fine whiskey as previously announced, but in a cozy atmosphere with a single beer in the hotel lobby. “I’m not a big party animal, and it was already midnight when we got back to the hotel.”
His coach puts a lot of things aside for him
And since the return journey would already take place on Monday, which is a bit difficult because of Ehammer’s XXL luggage (such as the poles for the pole vault), that was more than enough for the new world champion. And it fits the image of the hardworking Appenzeller who has worked his way to the top of the world in recent years.
He also owes his success to his trainer Karl Wyler. Wyler, himself a former decathlete, has been coaching for TV Teufen (AR) for more than four decades. And even though he’s nearing retirement, he still works 80 percent of the time, in addition to all the traveling with his protégé. Passion that pays off, as we can now see.
His environment builds him up
Simon Ehammer’s fiancée, the Austrian Tatjana Meklau (24), also continues to push him. Even as a top athlete (Meklau is part of the Austrian ski cross team and is also a hammer thrower) she can use a hammer when things don’t go as planned and she knows how to deal with frustration.
Like last fall, when a shoulder injury thwarted the trained sporting goods salesman’s plans. The originally planned conservative treatment did not work, and so the all-round athlete had no choice but to go to the operating room. The rehabilitation took three months and required a lot of patience from Ehammer. “But now, after the title, I know for sure: the shoulder holds. And despite falling behind in training, it was enough for gold. So there is more to it.”
The tattoo as a guideline
The fact that Simon Ehammer speaks so candidly about his strong achievements – and what he still wants to achieve – may seem atypical for a Swiss. Maybe even arrogant or distant. But Ehammer describes himself as an ambitious realist. His successes prove him right. In his young career, he is working towards his goals step by step and does not allow himself to be distracted from his path.
That could also have something to do with the symbol on his left shoulder. There, the long jump specialist tattooed a Vegvísir, a kind of Nordic signpost, two years ago. In Icelandic legends, the bearer of such a symbol would always reach his destination safely, even during the greatest storm. “And around the symbol, the runes each represent a discipline in the decathlon,” Ehammer explained at the time about his subcutaneous work of art. Ehammer’s path is now clear to him. He gives himself five days of vacation before the outdoor season starts again, and with it ‘the most important competition of my life so far, the Olympic Games’. After the World Cup gold it is clear: the matches can come.
Source : Blick
I’m Emma Jack, a news website author at 24 News Reporters. I have been in the industry for over five years and it has been an incredible journey so far. I specialize in sports reporting and am highly knowledgeable about the latest trends and developments in this field.
