Day four of our countdown to the European Indoor Championships in Glasgow focuses on two athletes from the heptathlon field who are following in the footsteps of the giants of decathlon.

Jiri Sykora

Jiri first competed in the European Indoors in Belgrade in 2017, where he finished tenth, and his participation continues a proud tradition of Czech performance in the heptathlon, following Adam Sebastian Helcelet’s bronze in 2017 and Roman Sebrle’s gold in 2007 in Birmingham. Jiri’s performance of 6006 in Prague earlier this month ensured that he received an invitation to Glasgow.

See more about Jiri here.

Vitaliy Zhuk

Glasgow will be Vitaliy’s first appearance at the European Indoor Championships, after a breakthrough year in 2018 where he exceeded 8000 for the first time in Götzis and won bronze in Berlin, qualifying for Glasgow in the process. He follows in the Belarussian footsteps of Olympic silver medallist Andrey Krauchanka, who won gold in the 2011 edition of the championships in Paris.

See more about Vitaliy here.

Photo credit: Michel Fisquet, Team Photo Marseille

Gabby Pieraccini

Brief athletics career peaked with a glorious medal for Glasgow University in the 4x200 relay in 1992 (look it up, it’s true, honest). Since then been talking about decathlon to anyone who will listen, or anyone who has ears. Civil servant in Edinburgh, Scotland. Loves to tell the stories of decathlon: the highs, the lows, the joy and the tears.

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