Swiss athlete has plenty of options ahead of the European Championships in Birmingham.

The Swiss who shattered a long-standing combined events world record indoors now has a big decision to make over which discipline to compete in at the European Championships. Whatever call he makes for Birmingham, he will be a major contender.

Simon Ehammer is a fan of tattoos. He has a number of them across his body, but none are there merely for decoration. “They have a special meaning for me. The tattoos give me mental energy.” he says. The most prominent is to be found on his left shoulder and upper arm, a piece of art that particularly stands out when he is at work in his competition singlet.

“It’s a Nordic rune. It’s from the vikings. In the middle, you have a compass and it means it's showing you the way, even if you don't see the way,” he says of the “Vegvisir” – Icelandic for “signpost” – which is surrounded by the symbols of all 10 decathlon disciplines. “[The message behind it is to] believe in what you do and don't think about what might happen.

“I have some little other letters that have some different meanings – like stay calm, be friendly, all things who I would like to be or qualities that I don’t want to lose. It's a tattoo with a lot of meaning, getting me the trust to follow your dream. And train for it.”

The 26-year-old certainly seems to be on the right path. He has already found himself in dreamland in 2026 and is in fact still coming to terms with the performance of 6670 points he put together in Toruń in March. It not only brought the second world indoor men’s heptathlon title of his career but also broke Ashton Eaton’s 14-year-old world record by 25 points.

“I never thought it would feel like this when you break a world record,” he says. “To win a medal, I think it's a lot easier to realise what happened and what you did. You have something in your hands and you know: ‘In this competition, I was the best’. In my situation, to break the world record, to realise: ‘I am the best who ever did this event’ is so big.”

It didn’t take Ehammer long to realise that he was on to something special in Poland. As soon as he ran faster than ever before to clock 6.69 in the 60m, the opening discipline: “I was sure the competition was going to be great, and that made it a lot of fun. I was in my zone.”

As he began to build a first-day total of 3698 points that suggested history was in the making, he began to wonder if Eaton was watching. Day two started in spectacular fashion, Ehammer producing a world heptathlon best of 7.52 in the 60m hurdles to strengthen his grip. He didn’t let up, a PB of 2:41.04 meaning he exceeded the target of 2:43 he needed for the record. The now dethroned record-holder had indeed been watching and Ehammer’s phone was soon ringing with a number he didn’t recognise.

“The opportunity to talk with him [Eaton] was really nice,” he says. “It was like a childhood dream, because he was on the highest level when I was watching decathlon or starting my career, and to break a record of Ashton Eaton’s, double Olympic [decathlon] champion, world record-holder. It was so crazy. He was so nice to me and he was telling me it was a pleasure to see the competition, and the joy and the happiness in the competition, as well as the evolution of myself over the years.

“That was so beautiful. I was apologising. I was like: ‘Sorry for breaking your world record’. I didn't know what I should say, because I took something from him. It was a special moment.”

Ehammer is hoping there are more special moments in his future this summer, particularly at the European Championships in Birmingham. However, not for the first time, he finds himself with a decision to make. He also happens to be an exceptional long jumper, with a European U23 title, outdoor European and world bronze medals, as well as the world best for a long jump in a decathlon (8.45m). So should he choose just one event or the unique challenge of tackling 10 in the decathlon and try to upgrade the European silver he won in Munich in 2022?

Neither option provides an easy path to the podium. All three long jump medal positions at the world indoors were filled by Europeans, including Italy’s reigning outdoor world champion Mattia Furlani. Choose the decathlon and the likes of German world champion Leo Neugebauer, Estonian European champion Johannes Erm and Norwegian star Sander Skotheim – to name but a few – will lie in wait.

“It would be one of my biggest achievements,” says Ehammer, when asked what a European gold would mean to him. “The only two gold medals I have won were indoors. Yes, it was gold but outdoors, in the main season of track and field, to win a gold medal would be perfect.

“And I have chosen two events with the decathlon and the long jump, where the level is so high at the moment. If you win a European title, it means you also can win a world title or the Olympics because there are not many athletes who are jumping further or making more points than the Europeans right now. So it doesn't matter if it says European or World Championships, it's a competition on the highest level.

“It's crazy how the disciplines have changed over the years, because when you look back at the European Championships in Berlin [in 2018], Arthur Abele won it with 8431 but now you need to score 8600/8700 for a medal.

“It’s the same in the long jump. Over the last years, [Miltiadis] Tentoglou has been jumping on his own level and normally you could jump around 8.10m and you win a medal at the Europeans. Now you have five or six guys in Europe who are jumping 8.30m plus. It's getting intense but I think I'm in a good position, either way.”

Ehammer might have to consult that compass on his shoulder to decide on the path ahead, but in truth he will be guided by his performance later this month at the Hypomeeting in the Austrian town of Götzis – the annual showpiece that attracts the finest combined eventers in the world. He excelled there last year, finishing third with a mark of 8575 that broke his own Swiss record.

“After Götzis we will choose what we will do,” he says. “I will also go to a training camp in Los Angeles for 10 days. It will be like a preparation for the second part of the season, and to see a little bit and smell a little bit of the air of the 2028 Olympics. That’s the plan.”

Ehammer considers finding joy to be a key component in how he performs. He found it on his way to gold in Toruń and believes that the British public will help him to do likewise come August. Having won his first world indoor title in Glasgow in 2024, he would love nothing more than another crowning moment on UK soil.

“When I watched the [2022] Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, it looked amazing,” he says. “It looks like a crazy atmosphere with the crowd, and the stadium looks beautiful. So I'm really looking forward to it.

“It's a place I love and it's always nice to compete in nations where track and field is big and where the crowd loves it. If we have a great crowd, the performance will be better than if there are no people or the crowd is silent. So I am looking forward to a loud and joyful crowd, and then I will enjoy it even more.”

Whichever event those crowds will see him competing in come August, they can be sure of watching an athlete who is starting to fully realise his potential.

“I was most proud of the whole competition because it was on such a high level,” he says, as we return to the subject of that indoor world record. “It was like we trained for so many years and so many hours for this consistency.

“As a multi-eventer you need to compete on a high, consistent level. When I was younger, it was easier to have a competition with seven personal bests because, over a year, you make huge steps forward. Now I’m at an age where you need to make baby steps to getting better and better and put the consistency up and up and up. That’s why I'm most proud about the whole competition.”

Seeing Ehammer taking those next steps should be a joy to watch.

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