It was a Swedish JVM success in athletics last night.
For the first time ever, two Swedish players in all respects were allowed to take to the podium at the same time.
Jacob Thelander took the silver and Elliot Duffert took the bronze in the decathlon.
Thelander was the gold candidate before the JVM in Cali, Colombia.
The 19-year-old topped the list of the world’s best player of the year by a wide margin with 7,823 points and was 200 points ahead of Spanish runner-up Paul Ferrer.
But Ferrer ran in the pole vault and was absolutely no threat.
Instead, it was 18-year-old Dutchman Gabriel Emmanuel who eventually beat the Swede by taking the gold medal.
“I did my best”
Before the last branch, the 1500m, which was set well after midnight Swedish time, Emmanuel was front and center in the summary.
It took Thylander to defeat him by about 20 seconds to take the gold.
This was not the case.
Telander did beat Emmanuel, but only by five seconds, so it was the Dutchman who celebrated.
“I did my best,” Thelander said to the television camera afterwards.
Bronze Shell for Duvet
The blast with the biggest pedigree was that Elliot Duffert – also 19 – took the bronze.
Duffert was not seen as a medal candidate beforehand, but he exceeded all expectations, polishing his best with over 250 points and that was enough for a medal.
Great effort by our 20 Swedish players. Thelander’s hopes for a medal came true, but I don’t think anyone—not even Elliott himself or his coach—could dream of being a world championship medalist, says A. Lennart Julen at C. Moore.