The shock of the competition came in the third discipline of the Heptathlon at the 9th World Indoor Championships here when the Olympic decathlon gold medal-winner, Erki Nool, of Estonia, had three no-throws in the Shot Put.
Zero points is the sort of handicap that even a great competitor such as Nool could not overcome, as the American, Tom Pappas extended his lead through a massive personal best of 16.23m, the second best effort of the competition.
After three of the seven events, Pappas has scored 2737pts, with Jon Arnar Magnusson on 2664 in second place following his 16.20 (864pts) shot. Lev Lobodin, of Russia, had pulled himself into medal contention thanks to a put of 16.51 (883pts), as he totalled 2649, 24pts ahead of defending champion Roman Sebrle (15.20/802pts/2625), with his Czech compatriot Tomas Dvorak now fifth on 2538 (16.00/851).
