With his 8,764 points, Erm put in the second-best decathlon result in Estonian sporting history, just 51 points shy of 2000 olympics gold medalist Erki Nool's domestic record.

Erm told ERR's Debora Saarnak afterwards: "Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls; what did I just do?! I'm the European champion! I'm so, so happy."

"A huge thank you to everyone who was there, everyone at home, everyone watching on TV; every bit of support counted. Thank you!" he added.

"I got the yellow bib for the javelin throw, and after my final throw, I was already in shock. I had to calm down. Then came the 1500 meters; I couldn't rest, my pulse was racing! I had picked up some strategies from other competitors, which allowed me to run confidently. With 500 meters to go, I saw what was happening in front of me and knew I still had the strength in my legs, so I finished the last lap with a smile on my face!"

Erm had already secured gold with his third javelin throw of 62.71, a PB, after more modest first and second attempts, but built on the Estonian 1500 meters decathlon record by five seconds with a time of 4:24.95.

He also set PBs in the 100 meters, 400 meters, pole vault, and javelin.

Norwegian Sander Skotheim who had been in the lead at the end of day one took silver with 8,635 points, and Frenchman Makenson Gletty, who set four PBs, won bronze, with 8,606 points.

Also competing was Risto Lillemets, who was aiming for a PB and, accumulated 4,071 points over five events on day one, but fell 29 points short of his record pace by the end of the first day.

A failed hurdles run led him to withdraw after the discus event.

Janek Õiglane had injured his knee during the long jump, managed to compete in the shot put, but had to withdraw after one successful high jump attempt. LINK

Defending champion Niklas Kaul of Germany finished fourth with 8,547 points, and world record holder Kevin Mayer of France, who also met the qualifying standard for the Paris Olympics, finished fifth with 8,476 points.

Erm's gold was the seventh medal in outdoor championship events since regaining independence: Erki Nool took European Championship gold in 1998, Olympic gold in 2000, World Championship silver in 2001, and European silver in 2002; Maicel Uibo won World Championship silver in 2019, and Õiglane took European bronze bronze two years ago.

In the all-time Estonian decathlon rankings, Erm's score now places him second after Nool with his 8,815 points at the 2001 world championships, and put in career bests of 8,742 and 8,706 points.

Erm is also now ranked 15th in the all-time global decathlon rankings, only three places behind Daley Thompson (U.K.).

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