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Nafissatou Thiam added the European indoor pentathlon crown to her Olympic heptathlon gold in Torun on Friday, but there was drama as track prodigy Jakob Ingebrigtsen was disqualified after crossing the line first in the men's 1500m. Ingebrigtsen, who set a European indoor record of 3:31.80 in Lievin, France, last month,the fifth fastest time ever run over the distance, was initially clocked as 3:37.56 for gold in a thrilling near gun-to-tape race. But the 20-year-old, a two-time European outdoor gold medallist (1500m and 5000m in 2018 at the age of 17), was disqualified for having stepped off the track into the infield, a decision that handed Polish veteran Marcin Lewandowski a fourth European indoor title, three coming in the 1500m in consecutive championships. Lewandowski, 33, was credited with a winning 3:38.06 ahead of Spanish duo Jesus Gomes (3:38.47) and Ignacio Fontes (3:39.66). "I was second on finish but finally have a gold after Ingebrigtsen's disqualification," said Lewandowski. "It is sport and it could happened with anybody. I experienced it during World Championships, so I know what he feels now." The Pole added: "During the race he was definitely better. He knew I prefer a slower tempo, so decided to lead the race very fast. "I tried to catch him and didn't want to battle only for silver. At one moment I was nearby, but his finish was incredible. It wouldn't be a shame to lose to a guy who almost broke a world record (in Lievin), but finally today I am with gold." Reigning Olympic heptathlon champion Thiam was the dominant force in the five-discipline pentathlon. The 26-year-old Belgian was fifth fastest in the opening 60m hurdles in 8.31sec, before registering 1.89m in the high jump and 15.15m in the shot put, both leading marks. In the evening session, Thiam leapt a personal best of 6.60m in the long jump, but 2014 world indoor champ Nadine Broersen of the Netherlands came a cropper with three fouls. That left just the 800m as the final event of a gruelling day of competition. Thiam made no mistake, timing a personal best of 2:18.80 for a national record total of 4904 points. It was a Belgian 1-2 as Noor Vidts took silver on 4791, with Hungarian Xenia Krizsan claiming bronze (4644). Thiam, the 2017 world heptathlon champion, had to make do with silver in Doha behind Katarina Johnson-Thompson in 2019, but her British rival is skipping the indoor season as she recovers from injury in a bid for a second dethroning of the Belgian at the Tokyo Olympics. "I am really happy to be already that good," Thiam warned after her gold in Torun. "I surprised myself in the shot put and the long jump. "Last year I trained a lot and worked really hard. That is what made the difference today. I am really happy with the national record because I never prepare specifically for the indoor season." The first gold of the competition went to Portugal's Auriol Dongmo, who won the women's shot put with a winning 19.34m. It was Dongmo's first global medal for Portugal, having previously won two African titles for her native Cameroon and only having had her eligibility transferred in May 2020. Miltiadis Tentoglou of Greece sailed out to 8.35m on his first -- and only valid -- attempt, enough to defend his men's long jump title by 4cm from Sweden's Thobias Montler. Czech Tomas Stanek won the men's shot put with 21.62m, while Britain's Amy-Eloise Markovc claimed gold in the women's 3000m in 8:46.43. The Euro indoors will be denied, however, a pole-vault showdown between Sweden's world record holder Armand 'Mondo' Duplantis and Renaud Lavillenie after the Frenchman pulled out with an injured calf. The 34-year-old Lavillenie sustained the injury in a training session earlier Friday, saying he had taken the "very tough decision" to withdraw "so as not to worsen the injury and risk compromising the Olympic Games this summer". lp/pb
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