In an Atakoy Arena with multicolored seats and intermittent awakening, the noise arose for the spectacular outcome of the pentathlon.

Ferocious in the 800m final, the Polish Adrianna Sulek crossed the line first (2:07.17), exhausted, and saw a new world record (5,014 points) appear first.

But the Belgian Nafissatou Thiam, who had taken a little lead after the first four events, exploded her best time over 800 m indoors (2:13.60 against 2:18.80) and slapped the former record to win.

With 5,055 points, she erased the 5,013 points of Ukrainian Nataliya Dobrynska, achieved in this same room in Istanbul in 2012.

A new reward for the 28-year-old Belgian, with a gigantic track record: two Olympic titles, three world and two European heptathlon titles, contested outdoors, and a third European pentathlon title, contested indoors.

"I had the record in mind. But you still have to find the right competition and be in good shape. It's a very good sign to have achieved this performance without having been perfect in all my events of the day", he added. she indicated.

The American Anna Hall had established the 2nd world performance of all time in mid-February (5,004 points), a total now relegated to 4th place.

Kambundji wins the 60m

The Swiss Mujinga Kambundji, world indoor champion in 2022, dominated the 60m in 7 sec 00, ahead of the Polish Ewa Swoboda (7.09) and the Briton Daryll Neita (7.12).

Switzerland's Mujinga Kambundji after her victory in the 60m at the Indoor Athletics Euros in Istanbul on March 3, 2023 © OZAN KOSE / AFP

Portuguese Olympic champion Pedro Pablo Pichardo crushed the triple jump competition with 17.60m, the world's best performance of the year, more than a meter further than his competitors.

Highly anticipated, the Norwegian Olympic champion in the 1,500m Jakob Ingebrigtsen responded to his favorite distance.

In the lead from the start, he suffocated his opponents with a high tempo to overtake the Briton Neil Gourley, before tackling the 3,000m from Saturday.

The Norwegian glutton, aged only 22, thus won an eighth European title on the track, the second consecutive on the indoor distance.

Immense talent in the world middle distance, he is also Olympic champion in the 1,500m and world champion in the 5,000m in title.

"It's important for me to compete in as many races as possible. It's also important for the fans. My goal is to become the greatest racer of all time and to succeed I still have to win races", a- he launched.

Good last in the 3,000m, the Turkish Emine Hatun Mechaal was strongly applauded during her race.

The athlete was saddened by the death of many friends and family members during the earthquake that killed more than 44,000 people in eastern Turkey almost a month ago.

© 2023 AFP