Talence (France), September 17: World champion Kevin Mayer broke the decathlon world record at the Decastar meeting in Talence, scoring 9126 at the final International Association of Athletics Federations' (IAAF) Combined Events Challenge fixture of 2018.
Had it not been for his three fouls in the long jump at last month's European Championships in Berlin, Mayer most likely would not have competed at the Decastar meeting.
But in the aftermath of that setback, the 27-year-old was looking redemption in Talence, a south-western city in the suburb of Bordeaux.
Just as USA's Dan O'Brien had done in 1992 after famously no-heighting in the pole vault at the US Olympic Trials that year and therefore missing out on the Olympic Games, Mayer gained redemption in the best possible way: by smashing the world record.
“I’ve been waiting for this moment for a long time,” says @mayer_decathlon after his 9126 decathlon world record in Talence.
— IAAF (@iaaforg) September 16, 2018
"I couldn’t cry. I don’t have any more tears left because I was crying so much before the 1500m.”
Full report: https://t.co/VhOQ6JTkH1 pic.twitter.com/ngRAsuDLH3
In fact his world record came just seven hours after Eliud Kipchoge clocked a stunning 2:01:39 at the Berlin Marathon.
Following a strong first day, Mayer started the second day of competition with a tally of 4563 points, 140 behind Ashton Eaton's first day total when he set his 9045 world record three years ago at the IAAF World Championships in Beijing.
But Mayer is notably a strong performer in the five events on the second day of a decathlon.
The world indoor champion continued that momentum throughout the second day. Pushed by European champion Arthur Abele, Mayer won the 110M hurdles in 13.75. Despite the -1.1m/s headwind, Mayer's time was just 0.04 outside the persoan best he set in Paris earlier this year.
"It was tough to get going this morning," said Mayer. "The race seemed longer than usual. And a German, on my right-hand side, was catching up with me. I gave it everything."
"It was a nice head-to-head," responded Abele. "This race was very cool."
Mayer opened the discus with 46.41M before improving that to 48.72M in round two and 50.54M in round three. His throw was almost 2M shy of his lifetime best (52.38M) but was easily his best ever discus mark within a complete decathlon and was the farthest throw of the day.
🚨 INCROYABLE ! PHÉNOMÉNAL ! FANTASTIQUE KEVIN MAYER 😱😱
— RMC Sport (@RMCsport) September 16, 2018
⚠ @mayer_decathlon va chercher un énorme jet à 50,54m sur son dernier essai ! Le Français est en AVANCE sur le record du monde d'@AshtonJEaton 😏
📺@decastar_off exclu sur #RMCSport 2 ➡ https://t.co/HRpQDkjXze#RMClive pic.twitter.com/orCPsqAAkX
The world record was looking more and more likely with each event, but first Mayer would have to safely navigate his way through the pole vault, a discipline that has caught out many decathletes over the years.
Following his opening clearance at 5.05M, Mayer passed 5.15M and then easily cleared 5.25M. He then carried on to 5.35M and 5.45M, 5cm better than his best ever vault within a combined events competition.
After one failed attempt at 5.55M, he opted to stop vaulting to save his energy for the two remaining events.
"Now we can start talking about the world record," said Mayer, having tallied 7,503 points after eight events.
The Frenchman recorded his fourth win of the second day courtesy a massive third-round throw of 71.90M in the javelin, more than a metre farther than his previous best.
With one event to go, Mayer had already amassed 8421 - a score that eventually would have been enough to win by 111 points. He needed just a 4:49 clocking in the 1,500M to break Eaton's world record.
That was an incredible display of ability! I’m super happy for @mayer_decathlon & even more for the future of the decathlon. 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. Alle!
— Ashton Eaton (@AshtonJEaton) September 16, 2018
Mayer's personal best for the distance was some 31sec faster than that.
(Source: IAAF)