France's Mayer breaks decathlon world record

The Frenchman cleared 5.45 metres in the pole vault to leave him on 7,503 points, 80 ahead of American Ashton Eaton when he set the current world record of 9,045pts.

Published : Sep 16, 2018 20:05 IST

World champion Kevin Mayer is all set to break a new world record.
World champion Kevin Mayer is all set to break a new world record.
lightbox-info

World champion Kevin Mayer is all set to break a new world record.

World champion Kevin Mayer set a new world record in the decathlon with 9,126 points at the Decastar meet on Sunday to eclipse Ashton's Eaton previous mark of 9,045.

The Frenchman threw a personal best of 71.90 metres in the javelin in the penultimate event to leave him with the relatively simple task of needing to finish inside 4 minutes 49 seconds in the 1500 metres.

The 26-year-old cruised home in 4:36 to become just the third decathlete to surpass the mythical 9,000-point barrier, joining double Olympic champion Eaton and Czech icon Roman Sebrle.

ALSO READ | Kenyan Eliud Kipchoge sets new marathon world record

“That was an incredible display of ability! I'm super happy for @mayer_decathlon & even more for the future of the decathlon,” tweeted American Eaton, who retired from athletics last year.

“Important thing to me has always been to keep pushing the limit and inspiring others to do the same. The more 9k can become commonplace the better.”

The 26-year-old Mayer missed out on adding the European title to his world crown and Olympic silver medal when he failed to register a mark in the long jump in Berlin last month.

But he put that disappointment well and truly behind him on the opening day on Saturday with personal bests of 7.80m in the long jump and 10.55sec in the 100m.

A shot put throw of 16m, then 2.05m on his third and last effort in the high jump and a 400m time of 48.42sec earned him a total of 4563 points at the midway stage.

Mayer opened Sunday with 13.75sec in the 110m hurdles and threw a whopping 50.54m in the discus before excelling at the pole vault in front of a partisan crowd.

Sign in to unlock all user benefits
  • Get notified on top games and events
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign up / manage to our newsletters with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early bird access to discounts & offers to our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide to our community guidelines for posting your comment