The reigning decathlon world champion Kévin Mayer, who only participates in three events at the French Athletics Championships in Albi, explained on Friday that he suffered a hamstring tear in June.
“We are not going to be secretive, in Paris (at the Diamond League meeting on June 9), I broke my hamstring, it was a real tear in the end”, rewound Mayer (31 years old), after throwing at best 15.26m in weight in Albi.
“It’s really going better, there’s nothing left,” he reassured three weeks before the Worlds in Budapest (August 19-27), but “I was in great difficulty in this (weight) competition. “.
“At the last try, I applied myself, without any intensity. It’s sure that it’s far from what I usually do, it’s frustrating because in competition I want to perform, but I’m working the weight well at the moment. It’s a good preparation, I knew how to do what was necessary not to stay at 14.65 m (his first throw, editor’s note), it would have hurt, ”continued the double decathlon world champion ( 2017 and 2022).
In Albi, Mayer chose to limit himself to three events, shot put on Friday and discus and pole vault on Saturday. “I did 50m thoroughly (in training) earlier, I hesitated to do the 100m (of the decathlon on Friday morning) but we are going there quietly, he explained. . It is going well.”