It&rsquo;s not how he envisaged booking his place at the Olympic Games when the qualifying window opened on 1 January 2019, but world decathlon record-holder Kevin Mayer will be aiming to score in excess of 8350 at the Meeting de la R&eacute;union on the remote French island of La R&eacute;union on Friday and Saturday (18-19).
With athletes keen to make the most of the recently reopened Olympic qualifying window, the competition is part of the World Athletics Challenge &ndash; Combined Events and is the first meeting in the 2021 series.
The qualification period for combined events opened on 1 January 2019 but it was frozen in April earlier this year following the postponement of the Olympic Games, when it became clear that competition opportunities would be seriously compromised in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic. The qualifying period reopened on 1 December and will now run until 29 June 2021.
Most of the world&rsquo;s leading combined events athletes achieved qualifying standards in 2019, but Mayer was not so fortunate. The 28-year-old from France contested just one decathlon last year &ndash; at the World Championships in Doha, no less &ndash; but he was unable to successfully complete the defence of his world title when injury got the better of him in the pole vault, the eighth of 10 disciplines.
With that injury now behind him, Mayer is hopeful of achieving the required score of 8350 to put himself in line for Olympic selection for Tokyo next year.
&ldquo;I can&rsquo;t wait to get back on track, to put into practice everything I&rsquo;ve worked on this year and to achieve the Olympic qualifying standard,&rdquo; said Mayer, who in 2018 set a world record of 9126. &ldquo;When I do (get the standard), it will be less pressure and I will be able to finish my preparation for Tokyo calmly.&rdquo;
Like most athletes this year, Mayer has competed sparingly in 2020, but his form is promising. He ran 13.91 in the 110m hurdles and threw 16.08m in the shot at the French Championships in September. He has also thrown 49.65m in the discus, while last weekend he warmed up for his decathlon by clocking a wind-assisted 10.70 in La R&eacute;union.
To mitigate against the likelihood of conditions rendering a performance invalid for qualification purposes, organisers are prepared to switch the direction of the 100m if need be.
Mayer isn&rsquo;t the only athlete heading to La R&eacute;union with ambitions of hitting an Olympic qualifier or boosting a world ranking. Eight other men in the decathlon field have a PB in excess of 8000 points, while the top six heptathlon entrants have 6000-point PBs.
Ukraine&rsquo;s two-time world indoor silver medallist Oleksiy Kasyanov, now 35, is keen to make a fourth Olympic Games appearance. The 2009 world bronze medallist won the Ukrainian title at the end of August with 7716, but he&rsquo;ll need to be closer to his lifetime best of 8479 if he is to make it to Tokyo.
Axel Hubert heads to La R&eacute;union as the top-scoring Frenchman in 2020. Earlier this year the 24-year-old organised his own competition in which he bettered the 8000-point barrier for the first time in his career, but as it was an unsanctioned event, it couldn&rsquo;t count for official purposes. But he improved again &ndash; this time in an official competition, the French Championships &ndash; in Aubagne at the end of September and scored a lifetime best of 8260.
Basile Rolnin topped the French decathlon list last year with his 8205 score to finish second in Ratingen. Like Mayer, Rolnin was forced to withdraw from last year&rsquo;s World Championships decathlon through injury.
Gael Querin and Bastien Auzeil are both 8000-point performers at their best, but they haven&rsquo;t exceeded that barrier for a few years. Younger compatriot Ruben Gado, meanwhile, may stand a better chance of approaching that mark this weekend.
Estonian duo Risto Lillemets and Taavi Tsernjavski joined the 8000-point club earlier this year and both could challenge for a podium spot this weekend. Lillemets scored 8133 to win the Estonian title in August, while Tsernjavski tallied 8086 in Rakvere in July.
Italy&rsquo;s Simone Cairoli, whose &lsquo;quarantine decathlon&rsquo; video went viral earlier this year, will be keen to make the most of being allowed to travel outside of his homeland and will look to challenge his PB of 7949.
Ukraine&rsquo;s 2013 world champion Hanna Kasyanova leads the heptathlon entries. The 37-year-old recently completed her first heptathlon since giving birth in March 2018, scoring 5962 at the Ukrainian Championships at the end of August.
But the battle for victory could be between Colombia&rsquo;s Evelyn Aguilar and Switzerland&rsquo;s Geraldine Ruckstuhl.
Aguilar came within 31 points of her lifetime best in September, scoring 6254 at the Spanish Championships in Madrid. Ruckstuhl, meanwhile, won the European U23 title last year and has a lifetime best of 6391.
Sarah Lagger, winner of the world U20 title in 2016, is also capable of challenging for victory. The 21-year-old from Austria has a PB of 6225. Estonia&rsquo;s Mari Klaup and France&rsquo;s Diane Marie-Hardy are the other 6000-point performers in the field.
World champion Katarina Johnson-Thompson will also be in action in La R&eacute;union, although she won&rsquo;t be contesting the full heptathlon. Instead, the British record-holder will just line up for a few individual disciplines.
Jon Mulkeen for World Athletics
<h3>Entry lists</h3>
Men Kevin Mayer (FRA) 9126 Oleksiy Kasyanov (UKR) 8479 Axel Hubert (FRA) 8260 Basile Rolnin (FRA) 8205 Gael Querin (FRA) 8194 Bastien Auzeil (FRA) 8191 Risto Lillemets (EST) 8133 Ruben Gado (FRA) 8126 Taavi Tsernjavski (EST) 8086 Simone Cairoli (ITA) 7949 Jeremy Lelievre (FRA) 7911 Ludovic Besson (FRA) 7792 Makenson Gletty (FRA) 7747 Benjamin Hougardy (BEL) 7697
Women Hanna Kasyanova (UKR) 6586 Geraldine Ruckstuhl (SUI) 6391 Evelyn Aquilar (COL) 6285 Sarah Lagger (AUT) 6225 Mari Klaup (EST) 6080 Diane Marie-Hardy (FRA) 6015 Cassandre Aguessy-Thomas (FRA) 5837 Annaelle Nyabeu Djapa (FRA) 5822

It’s not how he envisaged booking his place at the Olympic Games when the qualifying window opened on 1 January 2019, but world decathlon record-holder Kevin Mayer will be aiming to score in excess of 8350 at the Meeting de la Réunion on the remote French island of La Réunion on Friday and Saturday (18-19).

Mayer’s trek to Tokyo set to resume in La Réunion

World champion Hanna Kasyanova (nee Melnychenko) held on to her overnight lead to win the heptathlon at the TNT Express meeting on Saturday (13), but her husband Oleksiy Kasyanov had to withdraw from the IAAF Combined Events Challenge meeting due to back pain.Following the withdrawal of Kasyanov, who had led overnight, Czech champion Marek Lukas moved up the leader board to win the decathlon.Kasyanova regained the title she won in 2013 with a score of 6277. It was 139 shy of her winning mark from two years ago but was her best score since September 2013.Defending champion and Czech record-holder Eliska Klucinova was unable to achieve a fourth win in Kladno after finishing second with 6148.But the home crowd still witnessed a Czech victory. In his first full decathlon of 2015, 23-year-old Lukas set a PB of 7892 to win.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s nice to win at this meeting, but I was hoping for a better result, maybe 8000 points,&rdquo; said Lukas after becoming the second Czech decathlon winner in Kladno after former world record-holder Roman Sebrle, winner in 2007.Kasyanova maintains overnight leadKasyanova, who held a 43-point overnight lead, started the second day on a high note with 6.25m in the long jump. African champion Marthe Koala recorded the second-best mark of the day, improving her PB to 6.16m. Poland&rsquo;s Karolina Tyminska reduced the gap between her and Klucinova with 6.09m, seven centimetres ahead of the local star.Laurien Hoos from the Netherlands didn&rsquo;t start the second day after injuring her leg on Friday.Klucinova&rsquo;s mood improved after the javelin. Due to shoulder problems, she hasn&rsquo;t been able to practice the event in training, but she threw 46.40m to finish third behind Finland&rsquo;s Miia Kurppa, who threw 49.61m, and Norway&rsquo;s Ida Marcussen, who threw 48.74m.Kasyanova threw 42.50m &ndash; her best throw in a heptathlon since the 2012 Olympics &ndash; but with one event to go, her lead had been reduced to 39 points. In 800m terms, it translated to roughly four seconds. Down in third, Tyminska had a nine-point advantage over Koala.The leading trio of Marcussen, Tyminska and Kasyanova broke away on the first lap of the 800m, while Klucinova was a few meters behind. Marcussen went on to win in 2:12.38, almost a second ahead of Tyminska, who maintained her overall third place. Kasyanova crossed the line third in 2:15.09, more than six seconds in front of Klucinova (2:21.68).&ldquo;My long jump wasn&rsquo;t good, but the javelin was fine for my first competition of the season,&rdquo; said Kasyanova. &ldquo;I haven&rsquo;t run the 800m for a year, but now I recall how demanding it is.&rdquo;Kladno was just the third heptathlon that Kasyanova had finished since winning the world title in Moscow in 2013. &ldquo;Of course I am not happy with my score, but it&rsquo;s nice to be first and I have also achieved standard for the Olympic Games in Rio,&rdquo; she said.In previous seasons, Klucinova always produced a higher score in Kladno than in Gotzis, but this year it was different. She struggled in the hot conditions and scored 201 fewer points than two weeks ago.&ldquo;It felt as though I was in a sauna here after much cooler days prior to the competition,&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;My body didn&rsquo;t react well to these extreme changes. My plan was to try to stay behind Hanna and then go to the lead in the 800m, but she was running really fast today.&rdquo;After four second-place finishes in Kladno, Tyminska once again made it on to the podium, this time finishing third with 6048.Marcussen finished fourth with 5868, while fifth-placed Koala broke her own Burkinabe record with 5852, adding 383 to her previous wind-legal best and going way beyond the wind-assisted 5711 she scored earlier this year.<h3>Lukas leaves it late</h3>Kasyanova&rsquo;s husband Oleksiy Kasyanov looked to be on course for a record third decathlon win in Kladno, but the 2010 and 2014 winner started to feel pain in his back during the pole vault, which forced him to withdraw after eight events.For the first time in the history of the meeting, no decathlete managed to surpass the 8000-point barrier.Lukas, who finished ninth at the 2015 European Indoor Championships, secured his victory in the final event and finished 50 points ahead of Martin Roe, scoring a PB of 7892.Victory in Kladno had been a long time coming for Lukas, who finished 22nd on his first appearance here in 2011 before improving to ninth in 2012, third in 2013 and then dropping outside the medals last year, finishing fourth.Having set four individual PBs, Norway&rsquo;s 23-year-old Roe added 257 to his PB to score 7842 in second place. Romain Martin from France scored 7825 in third.Kasyanov clocked 14.09 (-1.7m/s) in the 110m hurdles to increase his lead over Roe from 139 to 155 points. With a PB of 15.35, Roe maintained his second place while Martin ran 14.81.The only host nation decathlete left in the competition, Lukas was the second best with 14.56 and moved up to fourth place ahead of Britain&rsquo;s David Hall.Kasyanov and Roe increased their lead in the discus. The Ukrainian lived up to expectations and excelled with the best mark of the day, throwing 50.85m in the last round, his best ever throw within a decathlon.Roe was more than six meters behind with 44.81m and the margin between the top two extended to 419 points.Kasyanov, the 2012 world indoor silver medallist, had been hoping for a personal best in the pole vault, but he failed to clear 4.85m. His best clearance, 4.65m, was 17 centimetres shy of his PB but was still the second best behind Martin, who jumped 4.75m.After six successful jumps in a row, Roe produced another lifetime best, clearing 4.45m.Kasyanov&rsquo;s withdrawal then threw the competition wide open. Lukas, the meeting record-holder in the javelin, confirmed that it was his strongest event with 65.83m and moved up to second place.Going into the 1500m, Lukas was 21 points behind the leader Roe, while Martin was another 31 points back. The 23-year-old needed to run roughly three seconds faster than Roe, but the Norwegian&rsquo;s PB was slightly better.Lukas bravely attacked on the final lap and quickly opened a gap on his rival. His time of 4:31.84 was enough for the overall victory, as the Norwegian was more than 11 seconds behind in 4:42.95.British 20-year-old Hall showed he was the best runner in the field. After winning the 100m and 400m, he also won the 1500m and set a lifetime best of 4:24.79, despite the heavy rain. In his second senior decathlon, he improved his PB to 7651, which was enough for fifth place behind Lars Vikan Rise, who tallied 7715.Michal Osoba for the IAAF

World champion Hanna Kasyanova (nee Melnychenko) held on to her overnight lead to win the heptathlon at the TNT Express meeting on Saturday (13), but her husband Oleksiy Kasyanov had to withdraw from the IAAF Combined Events Challenge meeting due to back pain.

Kasyanova regains Kladno title as Lukas takes surprise decathlon victory

World champion Hanna Kasyanova and her husband Oleksiy Kasyanov are the overnight leaders at TNT Express meeting in Kladno, part of the 2015 IAAF Combined Events Challenge.Kasyanova (nee Melnychenko) currently leads in the duel against defending champion and Czech record-holder Eliska Klucinova. After a hot and sunny day at the Sletiste Stadium on Friday (12), the Ukrainian has amassed 3744 points with the local star 43 points behind.&ldquo;I am very happy with my sprints, because I didn&rsquo;t have any competition practice,&rdquo; said Kasyanova, who finished only one heptathlon last year. &ldquo;I like hot weather and after a bad 2014 season it looks like a promising start.&rdquo;Kasyanova&rsquo;s current score is just 90 points shy of her day-one tally from 2013 when she went on to win with a final score of 6416.European indoor bronze medallist Klucinova is 78 points adrift of her day-one score from last year, when she set the Czech record of 6460. &ldquo;My performance was a tragedy from the beginning until the end,&rdquo; said the three-time Kladno winner. &ldquo;But I won&rsquo;t give up the fight for the first place.&rdquo;Nigeria&rsquo;s Uhunoma Osazuwa is currently in third place after four events with 3636, 25 points ahead of Poland&rsquo;s Karolina Tyminska.African champion Marthe Koala took an early lead with a Burkinabe record of 13.27 in the 100m hurdles, her favourite event. Kasyanova was the next best in a solid 13.31, while Klucinova dipped under 14 seconds with 13.97.But Kasyanova struggled in the high jump, clearing only 1.73m. &ldquo;My high jump was terrible, I had problems with my run-up,&rdquo; said the 32-year-old.Klucinova won her strong event with 1.82m but probably lost a chance to attack her national record. &ldquo;I had some problems with my leg, so I was a bit afraid,&rdquo; said Klucinova, who cleared 1.90m in Kladno last year. &ldquo;Nevertheless I should have jumped higher.&rdquo;The leader after two events was Osazuwa having clocked 13.44 in the 100m hurdles and cleared 1.79m in the high jump.After the shot put, the favourites Klucinova and Kasyanova moved ahead of Osazuwa. The Ukrainian saved her best for the last attempt, throwing 13.98m, while local crowd favourite Klucinova managed 14.22m.Only Laurien Hoos from the Netherlands posted a better result with 14.64m. The 2005 European under-23 champion is making a return to competition after retiring in 2011, but she felt some pain in her leg after 200m.Kasyanova was the only one to run faster than 24 seconds in the last event of the day, clocking 23.99 into a -2.4m/s headwind. Koala, who trains in Mauritius, confirmed her great sprinting shape to finish second with 24.28. Klucinova was the fastest in the other heat in better wind conditions and clocked 24.79 (-0.8m/s).<h3>Kasyanov set to retain his title</h3>Kasyanov is on course to successfully defend his title from last year, having built up a leading margin of 139 points. His day-one tally of 4291 is 81 points more than he managed last year when he went on to win with 8083.&ldquo;I am happy with the first place so far, but some events were not so good, especially the shot put,&rdquo; said the 2012 world indoor silver medallist, who broke his hand during pole vault training last December. &ldquo;I am injury free now and I hope to improve my personal best in pole vault here.&rdquo;Unexpectedly, second place is currently occupied by Norway&rsquo;s Martin Roe with 4152, having set personal bests in the long jump and 400m. The 23-year-old looks set to improve on his PB of 7585.David Hall got off to a strong start in the 100m, clocking 10.84 into a -1.7m/s headwind. The 20-year-old Briton, who finished 13th at the 2014 World Junior Championships in Eugene, is the youngest competitor in Kladno.Kasyanov was only three hundreds slower and produced his best long jump since 2010 in the next event, leaping 7.70m. Roe finished second with a PB of 7.42m.Kasyanov&rsquo;s lead over Roe was reduced to 34 points after shot put and the Ukrainian wasn&rsquo;t happy with his 14.27m throw. Norwegians were the only athletes to land their implements past the 15-metre line. Lars Vikan Rise managed 15.42m, while Roe threw 15.15m.Rise also excelled in the high jump, winning the event with 2.05m. The only other athlete able to jump over two meters was Romain Martin with 2.02m. Kasyanov produced 1.99m, but maintained his lead over Roe in second and Rise in third.The first day finished the same way it started. David Hall was in a league of his own in the 400m and broke the meeting record with a time of 46.98, moving him up to fourth place at the end of the first day.Way back in second place, 30-year-old Kasyanov managed his fastest time in three years, clocking 48.67. Roe remained in second place overall after clocking a PB of 49.20, just 0.05 ahead of Romain Martin.Michal Osoba for the IAAF

World champion Hanna Kasyanova and her husband Oleksiy Kasyanov are the overnight leaders at TNT Express meeting in Kladno, part of the 2015 IAAF Combined Events Challenge.

Kasyanov and Kasyanova the day-one leaders in Kladno

The duel between world heptathlon champion Hanna Kasyanova (nee Melnychenko) and local star Eliska Klucinova could highlight the TNT Express meeting in Kladno, part of the IAAF Combined Events Challenge, on Friday and Saturday (12-13).The biggest name in decathlon field is 2012 world indoor silver medallist Oleksiy Kasyanov, twice a winner in Kladno and husband of Kasyanova.The Ukrainian couple, who got married last October, were at Thursday&rsquo;s press conference at the Sletiste stadium. &ldquo;This meeting in Kladno is our first step towards preparation for Rio,&rdquo; said Kasyanova. &ldquo;It could be the third Olympics for both of us.&rdquo;Kasyanova won in Kladno two years ago before going on to take the world title in Moscow later that summer with a PB of 6586.But last season didn&rsquo;t go as planned for the 32-year-old. She recorded a season&rsquo;s best of 5937 at the European Cup Combined Events. She then skipped the European Championships and failed to finish in Talence.&ldquo;I feel much better than last year,&rdquo; said Kasyanova. &ldquo;My training went well, so I hope I won&rsquo;t disappoint fans. The women in Gotzis have set the bar very high, but I am looking forward to competing with Eliska.&rdquo;Kladno is a place where Klucinova loves to compete. The Czech heptathlete won here in 2010, 2012 and 2014, breaking the national record on each occasion. Her current mark stands at 6460.The European indoor bronze medallist recently finished 10th in Gotzis with 6349, the second-best score of her career. She competed in Gotzis before each of her previous Kladno victories, but always produces a higher score in the Czech city.&ldquo;On paper, I&rsquo;m not the favourite here,&rdquo; said the 27-year-old. &ldquo;But I will fight like a lion for a good result.&rdquo;Klucinova is targeting a score of 6500 this season. Compared to last year, she has improved in shot put and feels capable of running faster in the 800m. In Gotzis she felt a little pain in her foot during the high jump, but hopes it won&rsquo;t bother her in Kladno.Poland&rsquo;s Karolina Tyminska also returns to Kladno, having finished second here on four occasions. Her score of 6516 in 2011 would have been enough to win in any other year. Earlier this year she tested her shape with a one-hour heptathlon in Montpellier, scoring 5662.The field includes four more heptathletes with personal bests in excess of 6000 points: 2005 European under-23 champion Laurien Hoos of the Netherlands, Norwegian record-holder Ida Marcussen, recent Multistars winner Sofia Yfantidou and Nigerian record-holder Uhunoma Osazuwa.<h3>Kasyanov optimistic about title defence</h3>Kasyanov will defend his title in the decathlon. Last year he was the only decathlete to surpass 8000 points in Kladno, scoring 8083. After many injuries, the 2012 European silver medallist is optimistic before his first decathlon of the season.&ldquo;I didn&rsquo;t have any problems in my preparation, so I can expect a good result,&rdquo; said Kasyanov, who set his PB of 8479 at the 2009 IAAF World Championships in Berlin, where he finished fourth.Kasyanov will face New Zealand&rsquo;s Brent Newdick, who will be making his sixth appearance in Kladno. This will also be his sixth decathlon of the year so far.France&rsquo;s Romain Martin could be the dark horse of the competition. The 26-year-old has a best of 8104 but has been improving with every season.Czech fans will be cheering for Marek Lukas, who finished ninth at this year&rsquo;s European Indoor Championships. His training partner Adam Sebastian Helcelet is recovering from an achilles tendon injury, and last year&rsquo;s junior world champion Jiri Sykora decided to take a rest and do some training after competing in Gotzis.Michal Osoba for the IAAF

The duel between world heptathlon champion Hanna Kasyanova (nee Melnychenko) and local star Eliska Klucinova could highlight the TNT Express meeting in Kladno, part of the IAAF Combined Events Challenge, on Friday and Saturday (12-13).

Defending champion Klucinova takes on world champion Kasyanova in Kladno

European heptathlon champion Antoinette Nana Djimou and European decathlon silver medallist Kevin Mayer will head to the Decastar meeting in Talence, France, with high hopes of securing the host nation’s first double win since 1977 at the IAAF Combined Events Challenge meeting on 20-21 September.More importantly, it will be one of the last opportunities for athletes to bag points in the IAAF Combined Events Challenge, and if Mayer scores 8138 or higher, then he will take the overall victory in the series.Mayer has competed in Talence just once before, finishing fifth in 2012. But this year he leads the entries in the decathlon after posting a personal best of 8521 at the European Championships.He will be up against European indoor champion Eelco Sintnicolaas, Cuba’s Yordani Garcia, two-time Decastar winner Hans van Alphen, former world indoor silver medallist Oleksiy Kasyanov and 2012 European champion Pascal Behrenbruch.Nana Djimou will be looking to regain the Decastar title she won in 2012, having returned to top form when successfully defending her European title in Zurich with 6551, the second-best score of her career.But the two-time European indoor champion won’t have it easy as she will be up against the likes of world champion Hanna Melnychenko, in-form German Carolin Schafer, 2012 European silver medallist Laura Ikauniece, former world junior champion Yorgelis Rodriguez, 2012 world junior silver medallist Xenia Krizsan and Poland’s Karolina Tyminska.Jon Mulkeen and organisers for the IAAF

European heptathlon champion Antoinette Nana Djimou and European decathlon silver medallist Kevin Mayer will head to the Decastar meeting in Talence, France, with high hopes of securing the host nation’s first double win since 1977 at the IAAF Combined Events Challenge meeting on 20-21 September.

Home stars Mayer and Nana Djimou lead entries for Talence

The heptathlon at the IAAF Combined Events Challenge meeting in the Austrian town of Gotzis on 31 May will feature Ukraine’s world champion and IAAF Combined Events Challenge winner Hanna Melnychenko, the Hypo-Meeting organisers announced on Wednesday (23).In a repeat of the podium from Moscow, Melnychenko will face Canadian silver medallist and Gotzis defending champion Brianne Theisen-Eaton, who had been previously announced, and The Netherlands’ Moscow 2013 bronze medallist Dafne Schippers.Melnychenko finished seventh in Gotzis last year, but rebounded to win the world title in Moscow before securing the IAAF Combined Events Challenge victory with her triumph in Talence.After a disappointing seventh-place finish at last month's IAAF World Indoor Championships, the Ukrainian will be looking to improve on her best-ever finish in Gotzis, having finished second in 2009.Although beaten by Melnychenko at last year's World Championships, Schippers finished comfortably ahead of her Ukrainian rival in Gotzis 12 months ago by placing third, a position she would go on to replicate in Moscow.The 21-year-old hasn't contested a combined events competition since the World Championships, but showed great form indoors earlier this year with an indoor long jump PB of 6.43m and reaching the 60m semi-finals at the World Indoor Championships.Organisers for the IAAF

The heptathlon at the IAAF Combined Events Challenge meeting in the Austrian town of Gotzis on 31 May will feature Ukraine’s world champion and IAAF Combined Events Challenge winner Hanna Melnychenko, the Hypo-Meeting organisers announced on Wednesday (23).

Melnychenko and Schippers added to Gotzis fields

The 17th edition of the IAAF Combined Events Challenge kicks off with the Oceania Combined Events Championships in the Australian city of Melbourne on Thursday and Friday (3-4).Fourteen meetings later, the challenge will conclude with the combined events at the Asian Games in Incheon, Korea, after stopping off in all five IAAF areas.With 2014 the one year without a global championship in the four-year cycle, the Combined Events Challenge takes on even greater importance for the world’s top combined events exponents. It is a mix of the traditional and famous stand-alone meetings – the Multistars, Gotzis, Kladno, Ratingen and Talence; national championships – Australia and USA; multi-sports Games – the Commonwealth and Asian Games; and continental events – European Combined Events Cup, Pan-American Combined Cup, African Championships and European Championships.The biggest name in combined events – the USA’s world and Olympic champion Ashton Eaton, who is also the decathlon world record-holder – is having 2014 off from the decathlon and has said he will embark on a brief sojourn as a 400m hurdler. However, his life and sport partner, Brianne Theisen Eaton, has set her sights on repeating her 2013 heptathlon victory in Gotzis and winning the gold medal for Canada at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow this summer.If she can achieve both goals, she could be hard to beat in the challenge which is scored on the aggregate of an athlete’s best three results in the series for the year.The challenge rankings will be determined by the addition of the best three scores achieved by an athlete in any of the 15 competitions, and this determines who will get a share of more than US$200,000 in prize money when the season ends at the Asian Games, which will be held from 26 September-3 October.The top eight athletes ranked in the men’s decathlon and women’s heptathlon will receive prize money with the winner getting the handsome reward of US$30,000.The 2013 challenge saw a new winner emerge in the heptathlon. Russia’s Tatyana Chernova had won three times in a row and was bidding to equal the record of the Swedish great Carolina Kluft her with four wins on the trot.However, it was not to be. After a modest start with 6169 points in Gotzis, Ukraine’s Hanna Melnychenko rebounded with victories in Kladno (6416), at the IAAF World Championships (6586) and at finally at the Decastars in the French town of Talence last September (6309).This gave the world champion a comfortable 2013 challenge win over Germany’s Claudia Rath with Poland’s Karolina Tyminska right on her heels in third place.The men’s challenge winner, Andrei Krauchanka of Belarus, by contrast with Melnychenko, had his worst result of the season in Moscow, where Melnychenko won to take an iron grip on the women’s prize but Krauchanka could finish no better than 11th in the decathlon.Even so, his score of 8314 points, added to victories in Florence and Kladno at the beginning of the season, brought Krauchanka’s series total to 25,084 points, which was enough to withstand the late-season challenge from rivals competing in Talence.Canada’s World Championships bronze medallist Damian Warner won in Talence, as he did in Gotzis, but finished a tantalising 104 points adrift of Krauchanka in the standings. Germany’s Pascal Behrenbruch, the 2012 European champion, won in Ratingen and finished third overall.World and Olympic champion Eaton did not finish in Talence, leaving him with just two completed decathlons in 2013 and a long way behind the leaders.Who will emerge to take the challenge in 2014? Like the individual decathlons and heptathlons making up the series, the winners will be athletes who can score consistently and have the physical and mental resources to make up for a disappointing performance in one event with a personal best in the next.Stein steps up to senior ranksMost interest in the Oceania Combined Events Championships in the coming days will be the performance of Jake Stein in his first open national championship.The 2011 world youth champion and 2012 world junior silver medallist turned 20 in January and already has a score of 7601 points to his name in the senior event. If he is the top Australian finisher in Melbourne, he will earn automatic nomination to the Commonwealth Games team.First, though, Stein must overcome the likes of the defending Oceania champion Nicholas Gerrard and his New Zealand teammate, the experienced Brent Newdick, and domestic rivals Kyle McCarthy and Kyle Cranston.In the heptathlon, New Zealand’s Portia Bing, fifth at the 2012 IAAF World Junior Championships, and Australia’s Sophie Stanwell look to be the most obvious candidates for the gold medal, with both having scores in the 5600-range this year.The under-20 events will also serve as the selection trials for this year’s 2014 World Junior Championships and potentially could throw up an Antipodean successor to Stein in this age group on the global stage.Len Johnson for the IAAF

The 17th edition of the IAAF Combined Events Challenge kicks off with the Oceania Combined Events championships in the Australian city of Melbourne on Thursday and Friday (3-4).

Melbourne heralds the start of the 2014 IAAF Combined Events Challenge

Brianne Theisen-Eaton opened the pentathlon with an
explosive display in the first event, the 60m hurdles.The 25-year-old, who won the heptathlon silver medal at the
2013 World Championships in Moscow, ran a balanced race to win in 8.13, a
personal best by 0.04 seconds. This puts the Canadian into medal contention along
with world heptathlon champion Hanna Melnychenko.The 30-year-old Ukrainian also finished with a personal best
8.18 to beat an 8.20 clocking from earlier this indoor season. In a
high-standard race, the first five athletes set personal bests.In third place, Dutch Nadine Broersen equalled her 8.32 mark
from the 2013 European Indoor Championships.In fourth place, world leader Sharon Day-Monroe also had a
successful start. Having run 8.44 at the US Championships on her way to the
4805 American record, she now clocked 8.43.In fifth, Germany’s Claudia Rath was also timed at 8.43 for
a personal best, a big improvement to her previous best of 8.56 from earlier
this year. Karolina Tyminska of Poland was sixth in 8.50, Alina Fyodorova of
Ukraine set a personal best of 8.52 for seventh and one of the pre-competition
favourites, Yana Maksimava from Belarus, could not only manage a disappointing
8.75 for the eighth place.Mirko Jalava for the
IAAF

Brianne Theisen-Eaton opened the pentathlon with an explosive display in the first event, the 60m hurdles.

Report: women’s pentathlon 60m hurdles – Sopot 2014

With just three days to go to the start of the 2014 IAAF World Indoor Championships in the Polish city of Sopot, which will be held between 7-9 March, the IAAF website editorial team have put the spotlight on some of the top athletes in action this weekend in the women's events at the ERGO Arena.Please note that this preview is based on entry information received by the IAAF but before the official start lists have been decided.60mIvory Coast’s Murielle Ahoure heads the world list with a swift 7.03 and the 26-year-old boasts no less than five of the top 10 times this season. With her 6.99 lifetime best surely in danger, she will be determined to improve upon her global silver medals from this event’s last edition in Istanbul two years ago and from Moscow over both 100m and 200m outdoors last summer. Jamaica’s double world champion Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, whose indoor experience is improving with a 7.10 best this campaign, will be keen to add more gold to her impressive resume in her IAAF World Indoor Championships debut. Also look out for Jamaica’s 2010 and 2012 world indoor winner and two-time Olympic 200m champion Veronica Campbell-Brown, as well as the British and US 2014 60m champions Asha Philip and Tianna Bartoletta.400mUSA’s Francena McCorory and Russia’s Kseniya Ryzhova are the joint favourites over two laps of the track.McCorory will be the only woman in Sopot to have dipped below 51 seconds this winter with 50.85 when capturing the national title at altitude in Alberqueque little more than a week ago. Behind her, Joanna Atkins finished second in a 51.13 personal best.Ryzhova clocked 51.03 when winning the Russian title last month and, after many successes as part of Russia’s relay teams, is now looking for individual honours.Nigeria’s Regina George, a winner in Birmingham last month, could also surprise.800mUnited States pair Ajee Wilson and Chanelle Price have enjoyed breakthroughs indoors this winter to occupy the top two positions on the 2014 world list with 2:00.43 and 2:00.48, respectively, after their one-two finish at the US Indoor Championships. Both are making their debuts in the event and Wilson, still only 19, will be chasing a senior crown to add to her world junior and world youth titles.Another young athlete, Great Britain’s 20-year-old Laura Muir, goes into the event full of confidence following a 2:00.94 best in January and an impressive victory over 1500m in Birmingham. 1500mWith reigning champion and recent world record-breaker Genzebe Dibaba opting to focus on the 3000m, this event seems to be Abeba Aregawi’s for the taking.In Stockholm early last month, the 23-year-old Swede registered 3:57.91, making the world champion the second-fastest woman ever indoors.It makes her the fastest woman over 1500m in Sopot by more than seven seconds, with the Netherlands' Sifan Hassan looking to be Aregawi's nearest challenger.USA’s prodigious 17-year-old Mary Cain, having set an American junior indoor record over the mile with 4:24.11 earlier this year, was forced to withdraw from the US team due to injury.She had looked to be a medal contender, but now the battle for minor medals could be between Russian champion Svetlana Karamasheva, Albanian record-holder Luiza Gega and Olympic silver medallist Gamze Bulut.3000mThe outstanding favourite for gold will be Genzebe Dibaba, confirmed by her magnificent world record-breaking spree this winter.In the space of a two-week period in early February, the 23-year-old Ethiopian scorched to 3:55.17 1500m and 8:16.60 3000m world records and a 9:00.48 two mile world best. Dibaba appears to be a different athlete to the woman who finished eighth in the Moscow 1500m and exited in the heats of the London 2012 Olympic Games through injury.Kenya’s reigning champion, Hellen Obiri, is the best of the rest having run 8:29.99 this winter. She will be supported by her teammate, Irene Jelagat. Either Almaz Ayana or Hiwot Ayalew will be the second Ethiopian runner and both are capable of getting among the medals while Bahrain’s two-time world 1500m champion Maryam Jamal warmed up for Sopot by winning the Asian indoor title last month.60m hurdlesAustralia’s Sally Pearson ran in Berlin on Saturday, her first indoor competition since her 2012 gold medal-winning run in Istanbul, and showed that she is ready to mount a fierce defence of her crown with a scintillating 7.79 world-leading time in her heat and 7.80 in the final. The Olympic champion also recorded 12.59 outdoors in Perth last month but US champion Nia Ali and long-jumper-turned-hurdler Janay DeLoach Soukup should challenge after running lifetime bests of 7.80 and 7.82 at the US Indoor Championships. Germany’s Nadine Hildebrand and Great Britain’s Tiffany Porter, both of whom have run 7.91 this season, could in the medal mix as well. High jumpBlanka Vlasic has returned from injury and leapt 2.00m in Prague last week, so the two-time former world indoor and outdoor champion will be looking to make amends for missing both the 2012 Olympic Games and the World Championships last summer. Russia’s Maria Kuchina tops the 2014 world list with 2.01m from Stockholm in early February and one of the best Polish hopes for a medal in Sopot lies with Kamila Stepaniuk-Licwinko, who has improved her indoor best by eight centimetres this season to a national record 2.00m. Also in the hunt for medals should be Spain’s reigning European champion, indoors and outdoors, Ruth Beitia, who has also gone over 2.00m this winter. Pole vaultThe host nation’s best bet for gold possibly lies with Anna Rogowska.The 2009 world champion cleared 4.76m in Gent in early February to achieve her best height in three years and top the 2014 world list. A 4.85m vaulter at her best, Rogowska collected world indoor silver in 2006 and bronze in 2010, but Great Britain’s 2013 European indoor champion Holly Bleasdale, Germany’s Silke Spiegelburg and the USA’s world indoor record-holder and 2012 Olympic champion Jenn Suhr can all interrupt her ambitions for a global indoor gold medal. Long jumpRussia’s Svetlana Denyaeva-Biryukova has twice leapt 6.98m on her home turf this season – an improvement of more than 20 centimetres – and the 22-year-old will be hoping for more success on her debut on the global stage. Serbia’s 2013 world outdoor bronze medallist Ivana Spanovic leapt a 6.92m national record recently and will be joined by France’s Millrose Games winner Eloyse Lesueur, USA’s Tori Bowie and Great Britain’s Katarina Johnson-Thompson in the quest for medals.Triple jumpA close battle between Russia’s Yekaterina Koneva and Ukraine’s Olha Saladuha, the silver and bronze medallist from the 2013 World Championships, is likely to ensue, with the pair both having registered 14.65m this season.There is quite a distance between the leading pair and the rest but, of those expected to be in the fight for the bronze medal, Jamaica’s Kimberly Williams and Kseniya Dziatsuk of Belarus should feature highly.Shot putNew Zealand’s Valerie Adams is a firm favourite to add to her 2008 and 2012 victories, following her impressive return from ankle and knee surgery to throw 20.19m outdoors at home in Christchurch last month.The 29-year-old two-time Olympic Games and four-time world outdoor champion will be looking to extend her extraordinary winning streak to 44 finals.Germany’s Christina Schwanitz, the silver medallist behind Adams in Moscow, should be her closest challenger. Schwanitz is unbeaten in five competitions this year and boasts the top five indoor distances in the world in 2014 with a best of 20.05m. PentathlonSharon Day-Monroe will go to Sopot as the 2014 world leader after setting a US record of 4805 points at the US Indoor Championships.However, she faces the heptathlon gold and silver medallists from Moscow: Ukraine’s Hanna Melnychenko and Canada’s Brianne Theisen-Eaton, the latter having not competed in a pentathlon since 2012.Melnychenko is in great shape and has set two personal bests during the indoor season with 8.20 in the 60m hurdles and 14.19m in the shot put.Yana Maksimava of Belarus is number two on the 2014 world list with a 4686 personal best and has since won her national indoor high jump title with a 1.93m personal best.4x400m relayThe US squad includes three of the top four 400m exponents in the world this winter with McCorory, Atkins and 2013 world indoor 400m bronze medallist Natasha Hastings and so have the mantle of being the favourites.Behind the Olympic champions, a close battle should expected between reigning world indoor champions Great Britain and 2013 world champions Russia, the former utilising world 400m champion Christine Ohuruogu, who is not running in the individual event.Coincidentally, the medal order was Great Britain, USA and Russia in Istanbul two years ago.Nicola Bamford for the IAAF (with Mirko Jalava providing the pentathlon preview)

With just three days to go to the start of the 2014 IAAF World Indoor Championships in the Polish city of Sopot, which will be held between 7-9 March, the IAAF website editorial team have put the spotlight on some of the highlights expected this weekend in the women's events at the ERGO Arena.

Women's events preview – IAAF World Indoor Championships Sopot 2014

There is just one week to go before the starting gun is fired on the 2014 IAAF World Indoor Championships, which will be held in the Polish city of Sopot between 7-9 March.<o:p></o:p>With no global outdoor championship this year, this is the most important event on the 2014 athletics calendar.<o:p></o:p>Already this winter there have been some spectacular indoor performances to get the appetite whetted for the three days of action that are on the menu.<o:p></o:p>Ethiopian middle distance runner Genzebe Dibaba and French pole vaulter Renaud Lavillenie have set world indoor records*. <o:p></o:p>Earlier this week, Russia’s London 2012 Olympic Games high jump champion Ivan Ukhov continued his 2014 unbeaten winning streak and leapt 2.42m to equal the second best indoor mark ever.<o:p></o:p>Dibaba and Ukhov will both be in action in Sopot’s ERGO Arena and only an ill-timed heel injury has prevented Lavillenie from defending the global title he won two years ago in Istanbul.<o:p></o:p>There will be 26 sets of medals on offer in Sopot and the list of individual gold medallists at the 2013 IAAF World Championships outdoors last summer who will be bidding to add honours under cover to their list of accolades includes (in alphabetical order): Valerie Adams, Mohammed Aman, Abeba Aregawi, Ashton Eaton, Hanna Melnychenko, Aleksandr Menkov, Christine Ohuruogu and David Storl.<o:p></o:p>Almost 600 athletes will be in Sopot and the current list of nations that will be represented number 143, which makes the forthcoming Championships one of the largest in the 29-year history of the event, which stretches back to 1985 when what was then called the World Indoor Games had what now seems a modest 319 athletes from 69 nations competing. <o:p></o:p>Complete entry lists and full details of entries will be available next week on the IAAF website&nbsp;ahead of the Championships.<o:p></o:p>The IAAF World Indoor Championships are the first of the five 2014 IAAF World Athletics Series events, and this year also sees the inaugural edition of the IAAF World Relays.<o:p></o:p>IAAF<o:p></o:p>* subject to ratification<o:p></o:p>

There is just one week to go before the 2014 IAAF World Indoor Championships, which will be held in the Polish city of Sopot between 7-9 March.

One week to go before the gun goes for Sopot 

- Read on for English and French language versions of this story - La traduction française suit le texte anglaisIn just two weeks’ time, the focus of the athletics world will fall on Sopot, Poland as the 15th edition of the IAAF World Indoor Championships gets underway on 7 March.Much of the spotlight will be on the combined events, as both world champions from Moscow will be competing.World and Olympic decathlon champion Ashton Eaton of the USA leads the heptathlon entries in what will be his only combined events competition of 2014. Eaton will be defending the title he won in Istanbul two years ago and will be looking to surpass the world indoor record of 6645 he set on that occasion.In what looks set to be a high-quality competition, Eaton will be joined by 2013 IAAF Combined Events Challenge winner Andrei Krauchanka, world silver medallist Damian Warner, European champion Pascal Behrenbruch, European indoor champion Eelco Sintnicolaas, World University Games champion Thomas Van Der Plaetsen, world indoor silver medallist Oleksiy Kasyanov and European under-23 champion Kai Kazmirek.The women’s pentathlon is headed by Hanna Melnychenko. The Ukrainian was the surprise winner of the heptathlon title at last year’s IAAF World Championships in Moscow and has already shown good form this season, setting PBs in the shot put and 60m hurdles.Despite some pre-event withdrawals, the heptathlon in Moscow last year proved to be one of the most exciting competitions of the championships. The contest in Sopot will be something of a rematch with four of the top six heptathlon finishers present.Melnychenko will be up against world silver medallist Brianne Theisen-Eaton, US champion Sharon Day, Germany’s Claudia Rath, world leader Yana Maksimava, Nadine Broersen of the Netherlands, Ukrainian champion Alina Fyodorova and Poland’s Karolina Tyminska, who narrowly missed out on a medal two years ago in Istanbul.The invites for the combined events in Sopot are awarded to the 2013 IAAF Combined Events Challenge winners, the top three athletes on last year’s outdoor world season lists, the top three athletes on this year’s indoor world season lists, plus one wild card.Both the pentathlon and heptathlon get underway on the first day of action in Sopot and the winner of the pentathlon will be the first gold-medal recipient of the championships.IAAF*****Les participants aux Épreuves combinées annoncés&nbsp;à&nbsp;deux semaines de Sopot 2014 - Championnats du monde en salle de l'IAAFDans
 deux semaines, le monde de l'athlétisme va porter toute son attention 
sur Sopot, en Pologne, avec l'ouverture, le 7 mars, de la 15e
 édition des 
Championnats du monde en salle de l'IAAF.Les épreuves combinées y joueront un rôle majeur, avec la présence des deux champions du monde de Moscou parmi les participants.Le
 champion du monde et olympique du décathlon, Ashton Eaton, des USA, va 
participer à l'heptathlon, pour ce qui sera sa seule compétition 
d'épreuves
 combinées de 2014. Eaton, qui défendra son titre remporté à Istanbul 
voilà deux ans, cherchera, en Pologne, à battre son propre record du 
monde en salle de 6645 points, établi lors de son sacre de 2012.
On
 anticipe que cette compétition sera de très haute qualité, avec, outre 
Eaton, le vainqueur du Challenge 2013 des Épreuves combinées de l'IAAF,
 Andrei Krauchanka, le vice-champion du monde, Damian Warner, le 
champion d'Europe, Pascal Behrenbruch, le champion d'Europe en salle, 
Eelco Sintnicolaas, le champion de l'Universiade, Thomas Van Der 
Plaetsen, le vice-champion du monde en salle, Oleksiy Kasyanov,
 ou encore le champion d'Europe espoirs, Kai Kazmirek.Du
 côté&nbsp; féminin, le pentathlon comptera Hanna Melnychenko en chef de 
file. L'Ukrainienne fut la gagnante inattendue de l'heptathlon lors des
 Championnats du monde de l'IAAF de Moscou l'an dernier, et s'est déjà 
distinguée à plusieurs reprises cette saison, avec des RP au poids et 
sur 60m haies.
Malgré&nbsp;quelques
 forfaits, l'heptathlon de Moscou 2013 a été parmi les compétitions les 
plus exaltantes des Mondiaux, et Sopot rassemblera quatre
 des six premières du classement final. Melnychenko
 y affrontera la vice-championne du monde, Brianne Theisen-Eaton, la 
championne des USA, Sharon Day, l'Allemande Claudia Rath, la
 première des classements mondiaux, Yana Maksimava, la Néerlandaise, 
Nadine Broersen, la championne ukrainienne, Alina Fyodorova et la 
Polonaise, Karolina Tyminska, qui a échoué au pied du podium, voilà deux
 ans à Istanbul.Les
 invitations pour les épreuves combinées de Sopot sont accordées aux 
vainqueurs des Challenges 2013 des Épreuves combinées de l'IAAF, aux
 trois premiers athlètes sur les Listes mondiales en plein air de l'an 
dernier, aux trois premiers des Listes mondiales en salle de cette année
 avec, en outre, une wild card attribuée par l'IAAF.Tant
 le pentathlon que l'heptathlon démarrent le premier jour de Sopot, et 
la gagnante du pentathlon sera la première championne du monde couronnée
 lors de cette compétition.IAAF

In just two weeks’ time, the focus of the athletics world will fall on Sopot, Poland as the 15th edition of the IAAF World Indoor Championships gets underway on 7 March.

With two weeks to go, combined events fields announced – IAAF World Indoor Championships

World heptathlon champion Hanna Melnychenko takes our work, rest and play questions.The Ukrainian finished seventh in the pentathlon at the 2012 World Indoor Championships, but will be looking to improve on that at this year&rsquo;s edition in Sopot, Poland.<hr />HANNA AT WORK What is your favourite training session? Hanna Melnychenko: I prefer jumps training because the jumping events were always my favourite since childhood. I don't only mean the technical sessions in high and long jump, but also plyometrics. I also enjoy weightlifting. What is your least favourite training session? HM: I hate the monotonous long running sessions. For me, it is easier to run four or five reps of 200m or 300m than just jog for 30 minutes. What are your three favourite things about being an athlete? HM: The first thing I love about athletics is the fact it is a very objective sport. All the results are determined by metres, centimetres, seconds and points, and judges have very little influence on results. The second thing I love is athletics is not a nine-to-five job. I can adjust my training schedule with my coach depending on my health and wishes. It gives me a feeling of freedom. The third thing I love about athletics is it has given me the chance to see many interesting places and I have friends all over the world. That counts for a lot. Where is your favourite training venue? HM: It is my regular overseas training camp at Monte Gordo in Portugal. We have all the facilities for productive work and recovery. What is the worst thing about being an athlete? HM: Injuries. Sometimes they jeopardise success after months and months of hard training. <hr />HANNA AT REST What is your favourite music to chill to? HM: Recently I've been listening to the Ukrainian singer Tina Karol. I also listen to a radio station in Ukraine, where the modern music is arranged into a calm, classic style. My boyfriend has an amazing collection of vinyl records and I feel totally relaxed listening to blues music from his collection. Describe your perfect day without training.HM: It has to be a late wake-up in a hotel located on a little island by an azure-coloured sea. On one side would be green pine-covered mountains and on the other side would be a white-sand beach and a warm sea. It would be a lazy day of rest with my boyfriend, full of sunshine and nice conversation. Finally, we&rsquo;d have a romantic dinner by candlelight facing a beautiful sunset. I&rsquo;m definitely a lucky woman, as I spent a week like that at the end of the 2013 season. What is your favourite stress reliever?HM: I like to quietly drive my car and go out for a little shopping. I would only go to maybe two or three shops and buy something for myself.&nbsp;&nbsp; If you could pick any other athlete in the world to relax with, who would it be? HM: Certainly Oleksiy Kasyanov (Hanna's boyfriend and the 2012 world indoor heptathlon silver medallist) because he is the best man in the world and I love him. Where is your favourite place to relax? HM: In my living room at home. I like to relax by lolling about on our two big couches chatting, reading books or watching TV. <hr />HANNA AT PLAY When did you develop a passion for interior design? HM: It happened after the 2008 Beijing Olympics when I got a flat. From time to time I closed my eyes and tried to imagine what my own apartment would look like. I wanted to create something special and not be influenced by somebody else's ideas. What are your three interior design tips?HM: Choose calm colours when buying furniture, because you will be able to add bright shades anytime, depending on your mood. Don&rsquo;t overload your home with unnecessary things, especially cumbersome cupboards and wardrobes. Plan a minimalistic living space to make your home look spacious, light and fresh. What is your favourite design style? HM: It is modern minimalistic art, like the style of a Swedish hotel. It should be laconic, calm and practical. You are asked to design Usain Bolt&rsquo;s lounge&hellip;. HM: It would be a spacious hall with a big plasma TV set, and Play Station with massive soft couches and armchairs (big enough to accommodate all his friends). There would also be a futuristic fridge for drinks and a modern music system. Is there one colour you would never paint your walls? HM: If we&rsquo;re speaking about walls in the home, I would never paint them red. It&rsquo;s very irritating and annoying. I think it&rsquo;s impossible to rest and relax in such atmosphere. Steve Landells for the IAAF

World heptathlon champion Hanna Melnychenko takes our work, rest and play questions.