Canada’s Theisen-Eaton wins gold in pentathlon at world indoor championship

PORTLAND, Ore. – Canadian Brianne Theisen-Eaton made up major ground in the 800 metres to win pentathlon gold Friday night at the world indoor track and field championship.

Theisen-Eaton, of Humboldt, Sask., took a collective 4,881 points from the five-discipline event.

She entered the final event, the 800 metres, needing to beat Anastasiya Mokhnyuk of Ukraine by 12 seconds to secure gold. Theisen-Eaton crossed the finish line in two minutes 9.99 seconds to earn 965 points. Mokhnyuk finished in 2:23.19 to settle for silver.

“I was nervous coming into the 800 metres,” Theisen-Eaton said. “My goal coming in was to do the best I could in each event, not measure myself to the other competitors. With 150-metres to go I could hear (husband) Ashton (Eaton) screaming ‘you can win, you can win,’ so I had to find another gear.”

Theisen-Eaton opened the day with a personal best 8.04 seconds in the 60-metre hurdles. She followed that up with a clearance of 1.85-metres in the high jump, reached 13.70 metres in the shot put (774 points), and hit 6.42-metres in the long jump (981 points).

Edmonton’s Angela Whyte ran a seasonal best of 7.99 seconds to place fifth in the 60-metre hurdles final while Mohammed Ahmed of St. Catherines, Ont., grabbed a spot in the 3000 final with a time of 7:53.66.

Tim Nedow of Brockville, Ont., finished seventh in the men’s shot put with a best throw of 20.23-metres.

Also competing in the pentathlon, Georgia Ellenwood of Langley, B.C., placed 10th with a total score of 4324 points.

“I was a little flat with NCAA’s last weekend, I didn’t have huge expectations coming in, just wanted to come in and see what I can do. I wanted to soak in the atmosphere and just learn from the experience. I think it was pretty good considering everything,” said Ellenwood.