News11 Aug 2018


Mayer targets redemption in Talence

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Kevin Mayer after winning the decathlon at the IAAF World Championships London 2017 (© Getty Images)

Just days after crashing out of the decathlon at the European Championships, world champion Kevin Mayer announced he would compete at the Decastar meeting, the final competition in this year's IAAF Combined Events Challenge, in Talence on 15-16 September.

The French all-rounder, who earlier this year won the world indoor title, went into the European Championships in the form of his life, having set PBs this year in numerous events. But three fouls in the long jump, the second of the 10 decathlon disciplines, put an end to his European Championships campaign.

Three days later, the 26-year-old took to social media to announce his participation in Talence.

“It took me time to digest, but the desire to express myself on the track has never been so strong,” he said.

The end-of-season fixture has a reputation for being a competition of redemption for combined events athletes. It is where, in 1992, USA’s Dan O’Brien set a world record of 8891 after failing to record a height in the decathlon pole vault at the US Trials earlier that year, thereby missing out on the Olympic Games.

“Decastar is a great place for redemption,” O’Brien tweeted in response to Mayer. “Trust me, I know.”

More recently, Canada’s Damian Warner triumphed in Talence 12 months ago, just weeks after illness ruined his medal chances at the IAAF World Championships London 2017.

IAAF