Paris 2024 Olympics: injured, Kevin Mayer abandons an Olympic qualifying decathlon in San Diego, “on the day of the Games, my legs will be on fire”, he promises.

Kevin Mayer a dû abandonner lors du concours à la perche à San Diego (archives). MAXPPP – STADION-ACTU

Touché aux adducteurs, le Montpelliérain ne se dit "pas inquiet".

"Pas inquiet" for the Olympic Games, Kevin Mayer, suffering from adductor discomfort, abandoned the decathlon in San Diego (California, United States) on Thursday where the headliner of French athletics wanted to qualify for the Olympic Games. goal of a lifetime.

It is therefore above a parking lot, where the University of San Diego stadium is located, that Kevin Mayer put the brakes on his Olympic objective, in the indifference of a small sunny university meeting.

He gives up on the pole

Hit the "adductor major right side" according to his own diagnosis, the 32-year-old Frenchman called it quits during the high jump, the fourth of ten decathlon events. Qualification for the Games (8,460 points) should only be a formality for the world record holder in the discipline (9,126 in 2018).

But after his retirement at the World Championships in Budapest last summer, Mayer has not completed a decathlon since his world title in Eugene (Oregon, United States) in July 2022, and must absolutely validate the minimum before June 30.

💣 16m12 pour @mayer_deca à son 2ème essai !
L’essentiel est fait pic.twitter.com/SM4FRPgwHb

— Samoudi 🎙🎥 (@SamyrHamoudi) March 21, 2024

Frustrated by his mark of 7.07 m, he showed himself brilliant in the shot put, dispatched to 16.10 m (according to the mark official, despite the judge's announcement of 16.12 m heard by the entire audience) with a liberating cry, for her best throw in three years.

He will seek his qualification in Europe

"I know that I have had the Games on my mind for two years, and that on the day of the Games, my legs will be on fire . I can't ask my brain to do the same for minimums", he wanted to reassure once again.

After giving up on a decathlon in Australia in December and abandoning in San Diego, "Kéké" should go get his Olympic ticket in Europe in the spring.

Mayer has become accustomed to Olympic qualifications pressed for time as in 2012 (obtained at the beginning of July a month before the Olympics after three withdrawals) and in 2016 (obtained at the end of May). rg/lpa