ATHLETICS Preview: France’s Mayer looking for statement win in Talence

The final competition of the 2018 IAAF Combined Events Challenge comes at the annual Decastar meeting in Talence (FRA), perfectly set up for a rebound performance for France’s Kevin Mayer.

After pressing Ashton Eaton (USA) at the 2016 Olympic Games and settling for a silver medal with a brilliant score of 8,834 (no. 6 all-time), he became World Champion in 2017 at 8,768, the best score of the year.

But he crashed out of the 2018 European Championships and by his own admission, will be looking for “redemption” in Talence.

Truth be told, Mayer’s career in the decathlon has had as many lows as highs. Of his 26 career decathlons, he’s only finished 14! And since his silver in Rio, he’s completed only one of five: the World Championships in 2017. Ouch!

He was fifth in Talence in 2012, then didn’t finish in 2014 or 2016. So he’s looking for redemption for sure. The top competitors expected in Talence:

Men:
∙ 8,834 ‘16 Kevin Mayer (FRA) ~ 2017 World Champion, 2016 Olympic silver medalist
∙ 8,605 ‘16 Arthur Abele (GER) ~ 2018 European Champion
∙ 8,601 ‘17 Ilya Shkurenov (RUS) ~ 2018 European Championships silver medalist
∙ 8,342 ‘18 Pieter Braun (NED) ~ no. 4 on the 2018 World list
∙ 8,308 ‘14 Keisuke Ushiro (JPN) ~ 2014 & 2018 Asian Games gold medalist
∙ 8,290 ‘18 Vitali Zhuk (BLR) ~ 2018 European Championships bronze medalist
∙ 8,191 ‘16 Bastien Auzeil (FRA) ~ 13th at the 2016 Olympic Games

Women:
∙ 6,836 ‘17 Carolin Schafer (GER) ~ 2017 World Championships silver medalist
∙ 6,400 ‘18 Katerina Cachova (CZE) ~ Sixth at the 2018 European Championships
∙ 6,390 ‘17 Xenia Krizsan (HUN) ~ Ninth at the 2017 World Championships
∙ 6,357 ‘17 Geraldine Ruckstahl (SUI) ~ Ninth at the 2018 European Championships
∙ 6,337 ‘18 Verena Preiner (AUT) ~ 2017 World University Games champion
∙ 6,280 ‘17 Grit Sadeiko (EST) ~ 12th at the 2018 European Championships
∙ 6,230 ‘18 Esther Turpin (FRA) ~ 11th at the 2018 European Championships

Look for results here.