Frenchman Kevin Mayer qualified for the Tokyo Olympics by scoring the minimums.
The world record holder won the Reunion Island decathlon on Saturday with 8,552 points and will try to win his first Olympic title next summer in Tokyo.
Frenchman Kevin Mayer qualified for the Tokyo Olympics by scoring the minimums during his Reunion Island decathlon victory in 8552 points on Saturday.
The world record holder (9126 points) had to reach the 8350 points mark to validate his ticket for the Olympics.
Kevin Mayer, Olympic vice-champion in Rio in 2016, will try to clinch gold next summer in Tokyo, where he is expected to be the big favorite.
Obliged to achieve the minimum due to his abandonment at the 2019 Worlds
Mayer (28) was obliged to achieve the minimums to guarantee his presence in Japan due to his retirement due to injury at the Doha Worlds in 2019. In the lead at the end of the first day on Friday, the French, who had not completed a decathlon since his world record on September 16, 2018 in Talence (France), continued his momentum on Saturday by improving in particular his personal best over 110 m hurdles (13 sec 54).
He also successfully passed the obstacle of the pole vault, a specialty that has caused him a lot of concern in recent months, ensuring his jump (4.65 m).
This meeting, exclusively devoted to combined events, was organized on the initiative of Kevin Mayer, anxious to get rid of the minimums as quickly as possible, the period to qualify for the Olympics being open since December 1.