EUGENE -- Decathlete Simon Ehammer of Switzerland edged Tajay Gayle of Jamaica on a countback to win the men's long jump at the Diamond League Prefontaine Classic at Hayward Field.

“It was a great, great competition," Ehammer said. "A lot of good jumps from me, end the season with a high level and I think I did pretty well.”

Ehammer jumped to an early lead in the first round, but the competition took a real turn for the dramatic in Round 4 when Gayle leapt out to wind-aided 8.22m/26-11.75 to vault into the lead. Ehammer responded on his very next jump, in the same round, and registered the very same mark, albeit with no wind.

Men's Long Jump takes flight ✈️

1⃣ Simon Ehammer | 8.22m
2⃣ Tajay Gayle | 8.22m
3⃣ Yuki Hashioka | 8.15m

📷 @HowLao #PreClassic #EugeneDL 🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/1EmUi2f36i

— The Prefontaine Classic (@nikepreclassic) September 17, 2023

By rule, the tie is broken by the next best jump in the competition. That sent things back to the first round and Ehammer's early leading mark of 8.12m/26-7.75 wound up being the decider for the title as neither Gayle's next best mark was 8.08m/26-6.25 from Round 3.

Ehammer, who was forced to limit his focus this season due to injury, said that his victory here will not influence his decision to continue competing in both the decathlon and the long jump next season.

“I will start competing next at the multis and the long jump," he said. "This year I had some problems in the shoulder so I had to decide which event I will do, also for the Worlds. But next season I hope to compete in both events at the Olympics.”

Yuki Hashioka of Japan finished third with a season-best mark of 8.15m/26-9.

Americans Jarrion Lawson (8.02m/26-3.75) and William Williams (7.99m/26-2.75) finished fifth and sixth respectively.