For a country with a population of just 5.5 million, Norway has more than its fair share of athletics honours. With the bulk of the attention split between the feats of Jakob Ingebrigtsen, the exuberance of Karsten Warholm and the new Olympic decathlon champion Markus Rooth, there hasn’t been much attention left over for decathlete Sander Skotheim.
But all that changed over the course of a few weeks in the 2025 indoor season, where the 22-year-old took three steps out of the shadows and into the spotlight with his heptathlon performances, becoming European record-holder, European indoor champion, and World Indoor champion.
Sander Skotheim in 2021 (Getty)
A European record
Every year Estonia hosts one of the top indoor combined events meets in the world. A country rich in decathlon history, in 2021 Tallinn hosted the European U20 championships where Skotheim won decathlon silver behind Jente Hauttekeete. Earlier that year the
Belgian had set a World U20 record of 6062 for the heptathlon and, a few days later, Skotheim scored 6015 for the second-best mark of all time.
The Norwegian might have just missed the world heptathlon record by a few points as a junior, but by the end of the first day of competition at the Tallinn Combined Events meeting in February 2025, he was on track for the European heptathlon record of 6479 points.
He extended his long jump personal best from 8.03m to 8.19m and threw a lifetime best of 15m in the shot, adding a high jump of 2.06m. On the second day, as Kevin Mayer lamented the peril in which his European record found itself – “My record is in danger!” the Frenchman declared on social media – Skotheim hurled himself over 5.25m in the pole vault.
Only a 2:38 1000m stood between the Norwegian and Mayer’s record, a time he had run many times before. Fatigued from the efforts of the previous six events, he squeezed under the time with 2:37.85 and made history with 6484.
“In the 1000m, it was all or nothing,” he said afterwards. “I knew it was a time I was capable of, but it was not an easy time to run. I felt we ran fast but, when I looked at the clock, it wasn’t going that fast! So, with 400m to go, I thought maybe I’ll not make it. But then, in the last 200m, I just sprinted with everything I had and barely made it.”
Sander Skotheim (Getty)
A European title
A few weeks later, the European Indoor Championships took place in Apeldoorn. At the previous iteration of the competition in 2023 in Istanbul, Skotheim had won his first senior silver medal, behind Mayer. On that occasion, the Norwegian’s devastating final event forced the Frenchman to run for his life to win, 6348 to 6318. “He pushed me so hard,” Mayer said at the time. “I was so scared because, before the 1000m, I didn’t know if he was going to go fast. So that was seven hours of waiting and being scared.”
Skotheim, meanwhile, was rather more relaxed about events.
“It’s super cool to be this close to Kevin now,” he reflected after his race in Istanbul.
“He’s been a big idol of mine while I’ve been doing the decathlon, so it’s cool to see that he’s within reach to beat.”
In 2025, the main challenger for Skotheim was Simon Ehammer of Switzerland, whose twin focus on the decathlon and long jump have made him one of the most recognisable faces in combined events.
Combined eventers tend to fall into four categories: the speed/power athletes, the jumpers, the throwers and the all-rounders. As a speed/power athlete, Ehammer dominates the standings in the early events. In Apeldoorn, such was the early flair of the Swiss that over-enthusiastic suggestions of a world record were emerging after three events.
Sander Skotheim in Apeldoorn (Getty)
In actual fact, it was Skotheim, in the shadow of Ehammer, who was on track for a record-breaking score. This time, he did it differently from his performance in Tallinn, where he had acknowledged the points missed in the high jump.
“2.06m is not a disaster, but it’s almost 100 points lost to what I could have done,” he said. “I got the height, but I didn’t really have the timing, or a good feeling of where the bar was. Hopefully, I can push towards at least above 6500, maybe even 6600.”
Skotheim found those missing points in Apeldoorn. Fewer points from the long jump, shot and pole vault with 7.95m,
14.39m and 5.10m respectively, but more points from a 2.19m high jump and sensational 2:32.72 1000m, in which he led seven men to PBs under 2:40.
He emerged from the shade cast by Ehammer’s profile and – in addition to winning his first senior gold medal – elevated his previous European record to 6558, overtaking Canada’s Damian Warner and Puerto Rico’s Ayden Owens-Delerme on the world all-time list. Only Kyle Garland (6639) and Ashton Eaton (6645) have scored more.
Sander Skotheim in Nanjing (Getty)
A world title
Skotheim’s competition at the World Indoor Championships in Nanjing was Johannes Erm of Estonia, the 2024 European decathlon champion behind whom the Norwegian had won silver in Rome.
Skotheim had beaten Erm soundly in Apeldoorn over seven events, but was tackling his third competition in seven weeks, and faced with an adversary hell-bent on redemption after missing out on a medal in the Netherlands. Perhaps for the first time in his career, Skotheim had the pressure of being favourite. A year earlier in Glasgow, Ehammer had won the world indoor title in a closely fought battle in which Skotheim had received yet another silver and Erm the bronze.
For most of the competition the Norwegian was on track to repeat his European record mark. But a 5.00m pole vault checked that trajectory, and instead a new dynamic emerged, as the Estonian’s 5.30m vault brought him within 52 points of Skotheim after six events.
The final 1000m was brutal – not for the speed of Apeldoorn, but for the physicality of two tired athletes occupying the same banked curves and racing for gold. Skotheim stayed on his feet, and within a few metres of Erm. He was rewarded with his first world title in a score of 6475.
Sander Skotheim at World Indoors (Getty)
The jewels in Skotheim’s crown are his jumps, where he has one of the best combinations of any decathlete: an 8.19m long jump, a 2.20m high jump and a 5.35m pole vault.
For the level of competition in which he now finds himself, flexibility to deliver high scores across events in different ways is crucial, providing resilience should a flagship discipline not go to plan.
As Skotheim returns to ten events, he will face his team-mate Rooth, regarded as one of the most technically proficient decathletes currently competing – a true all-rounder rather than a specialist in any one, or set of, disciplines.
Skotheim has typically been one step behind his compatriot. He came second to Rooth in Multistars in Grosseto in 2022, where they both broke Martin Roe’s previous national record.
Sander Skotheim and Marcus Rooth (Getty)
A year later in the EU23 championships in Espoo, he and Rooth left the field in their wake as they battled to scores of 8561 and 8608, respectively. And then Rooth won the ultimate prize in Paris last year, an Olympic title, in a national record of 8796.
In Paris, Skotheim failed to register a height in the pole vault. In the moment he set aside the disappointment of what might have been, and focused on helping his team-mate achieve what was to be, also winning a World Athletics Fair Play award.
Skotheim’s score from nine events in Paris was 7757. A vault of 5.10m would have given him another 941 points. A 1500m run for himself, rather than for Rooth, could have given him at least another 100 points. Taken together, that’s a score approaching 8800.
With three confident steps out of the shadows and into the light in 2025, perhaps Norway has a little more room for another star to shine.
