World-class decathlete aims high: Ehammer even has a hypnotist on the team

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Götzis (Austria), the all-round Mecca in Vorarlberg – next to the World Championships or the Olympic Games, the annual benchmark of everything. Worldwide. In the Pentecost weekend it’s that time again. It goes without saying that Simon Ehammer, who finished second at the European Championships in Munich last year, loves the decathlon spectacle. Especially since it is almost imminent for the Appenzeller. “The stands in the Mösle Stadium are sold out,” says Ehammer. “There is something wrong among the fans. And in this atmosphere I can do much better in terms of performance.”

Ehammer’s demands on himself are high. The Olympic limit for Paris is his goal. 8460 points – only when he won silver at the European Championships in Munich last year did he collect 8 points more. But lofty goals are no obstacle for Ehammer. “The preparation for the season went perfectly. My hurdle time from the first competitions is sensational, the long jump works again after the clear at the European Indoor Championships in Istanbul and the performances in the other disciplines are stable. »

Big team for success

Behind the confidence Ehammer shows is hard work and a good team of coaches. At the sports performance center Appenzellerland Sport in Teufen, where he trains between 24 and 30 hours a week, René Wyler coordinates the training work for the individual disciplines. Brother Karl supports him and takes care of Simon Ehammer at the games.

Yves Zellweger is responsible for the long jump, the discipline in which Ehammer finished third at the 2022 World Championships. Roman Wagner leads the pole vault training. For the hurdle sprint, Lisa Urech’s former trainer was selectively brought on board: Sven Rees, responsible for the German Performance Center in Stuttgart. With Christian Gutgsell and the sports doctor Pierre Hofer, physiotherapy and the medical field are discussed.

Hypnotist instead of mental trainer

«Until 2021 I worked with a mental coach. But since then an experienced hypnotist, who also works with Scout Winterthur’s handball players, has been helping me mentally,” says Ehammer. With him he cleared the long jump error from Istanbul. “That really hurt,” Ehammer recalls. “But a zero in Götzis or at a World Cup or Olympics would be more painful.”

But the most important person in Ehammer’s KMU is his fiancée Tatjana Meklau. “With her I let go of all my joy or frustration. It’s not always easy for them. But Tatyana completely understands and helps me a lot with processing. »

Work gives financially

The fact that Ehammer is now a coveted number among track and field athletes also shows the interest of major sponsors. He recently signed with Red Bull. “I am very proud to be part of a team that includes ski stars like Shiffrin, Kilde and Marco Odermatt,” says Ehammer. The collaboration with Omega was also confirmed this week. Ehammers manager Michael Schiendorfer is also doing well in business.

Ehammer’s “boss” René Wyler offers a surprising counterpoint to what at first glance seems like the life of a very professionally organized athlete down to the smallest detail: “While other top athletes spend weeks in the heat in Belek, Turkey, in Training in South Africa or Tenerife, for the first time in his career, Simon spent a week in a training camp abroad during the Easter period, in Lana, in South Tyrol.” There, too, the Appenzeller “Superman” showed its appeal.

“Sven Rees came to us for hurdle training. And with Tim Nowak, the German EM seventh in the decathlon, he even brought a good training partner with him. » So nothing stands in the way of an Ehammer fireworks during the Götzis decathlon in the Pentecost weekend.

Source : Blick