2024 European Championships: Kevin Mayer within the Olympic minimum times after the first day of his decathlon

Kevin Mayer tente de se qualifier pour les Jeux Olympiques cette semaine à Rome. MAXPPP – STADION-ACTU

Le Montpelliérain est à Rome pour décrocher sa qualification pour Paris 2024. Même s’il ne réalise pas le "déca" du siècle, il est dans les clous.

Kevin Mayer, who is making Olympic qualification for the Paris Games his priority at the European Athletics Championships, three weeks before the deadline, assured the’ essential throughout the first day of the decathlon, Monday in Rome.

The double world champion (2017 and 2022) and double Olympic silver medalist (2016 and 2021), who has not completed ten events since July  2022 in Eugene (United States), approaches the Roman decathlon as his "last chance" qualification for the 2024 Olympics.

Mayer (32) launched it Monday morning with a solid 100m, run in 10 sec 72 (wind: +0.4m/s), more than two tenths behind of his personal best, in a series delayed by two false starts and won by another Frenchman, Makenson Gletty, in 10 sec 55, a new personal best.

"I do the job"

In the long jump an hour later, he made do with just one jump, at 7.37m (+2.3m/s ), instead of the three he had. At the weight then, he sent his best throw at 15.31 m, far from his very best throws. At the start of the evening, it was a bandaged right ankle that he reappeared for the high jump, the discipline during which he had stopped during his aborted Olympic qualification attempt in San Diego (California). end of March.

S’he removed his strapping in the middle of the competition, Mayer, pouting on his face, capped at 1.96 m. A performance, followed by’ a lackluster 400m, which does not prevent him from being on track for the Olympic minimums set at 8460 points, his N.1 objective in the European competition. "I’I try not to get the wrong objective, it’s very hard, it’s special but I do the job", summarized the Montpellier.

The second day of your decathlon is generally much better than the first.