German heptathlete Till Steinforth secured a bronze medal at the World Indoor Championships, bringing success to the small German contingent in Nanjing. The 22-year-old, who competes for SV Halle and studies in the U.S., overcame challenges in the final 1000m race to finish on the podium.
“I’m super happy, things couldn’t have gone much better,” Steinforth said. “The last two weeks have been almost perfect. I wanted a medal and had my sights on the German record. I wasn’t sure how my body would handle the travel, but I felt fit and am proud of my performance.”
Steinforth accumulated 6275 points, finishing behind Norway’s Sander Skotheim (6475) and Estonia’s Johannes Erm (6437). He fell short of breaking his own German record (6388), which he set two weeks earlier at the European Indoor Championships in Apeldoorn, where he also won bronze. In that competition, he finished behind Skotheim and Switzerland’s Simon Ehammer, who was absent from Nanjing.
Strong Performances and a Tough Finish
Steinforth moved into medal contention on Sunday with a personal best in the 60m hurdles (7.85 seconds) and an impressive pole vault (5.20 meters). However, exhaustion set in during the 1000m, where he finished nine seconds slower than in Apeldoorn. Nevertheless, he maintained enough of a lead to hold off American Heath Baldwin (6188 points). Tim Nowak (Ulm) placed seventh with 5935 points.
Steinforth’s bronze is only the third World Championship medal won by a German heptathlete, following Andre Niklaus’ gold in Moscow (2006) and Matthias Brugger’s bronze in Portland (2014).
Other German Performances
In the high jump, Imke Onnen placed sixth with a height of 1.92 meters. Australian Olympic silver medalist Nicola Olyslagers claimed gold with 1.97 meters, while world record holder Yaroslava Mahuchikh (Ukraine) finished third with 1.95 meters. In the long jump, U.S. athlete Claire Bryant won with a 6.95-meter leap in the absence of Tokyo Olympic champion Malaika Mihambo.
Triple jumper Max Heß finished sixth in Nanjing after earning silver in Apeldoorn, while heptathlete Vanessa Grimm narrowly missed the podium, placing fourth.
Limited German Contingent in Nanjing
Following the European Indoor Championships, the German Athletics Association sent only an eight-person team to the World Championships. Among the absentees were Olympic shot put champion Yemisi Ogunleye and German decathlon record holder Leo Neugebauer.
