The reigning decathlon world champion Kévin Mayer stopped at 5.10 m for his first pole vault competition of the summer season, at the French Athletics Championships on Saturday in Albi.
Three weeks before the Worlds in Budapest (August 19-27), for which he is automatically qualified as 2022 world champion, Mayer (31) has chosen to limit himself to three events in Albi: weight Friday, discus and pole. SATURDAY.
Under a scorching sun, he crossed 5 m, then 5.10 m on his third attempt, before failing three times at 5.20 m in the pole vault. “It’s not horrible, I didn’t make good jumps in competition, but during the warm-up yes. That’s what I came for. I know what I will be worth in a month, I no longer have to reassure myself too much to move forward”, explains Mayer, who “slept only two hours” because of insomnia. “I think I was starting to think about Budapest.”
In the morning, he had recorded a better throw at 46.92 m in the discus throw, after two first tries out of bounds. “I’m not going to say that I’m satisfied, but I have very good settings and a lot of confidence for the future,” said Mayer. It’s just the weight that I have to keep working on, it’s really my Achilles heel, the point that I’m going to focus on in the next few days.
The day before, the double Olympic vice-champion in decathlon (2016 and 2021), who had revealed that he had suffered a hamstring tear in early June at the Paris meeting, had to settle for 15.26 m in weight.
“I know my state of mind when I’m in (international) championships: that’s what allows me to have the little click in each event. I’m not saying that I’m going to succeed, but until then I’m not missing out too much in (big) championships, ”he continues.
“I don’t want to spoiler, but it’s running pretty fast at the moment, there is progress in sprinting, and on the jumps I made marks that I rarely do, continues Mayer. I feel a lot less strength and a lot more power right now, it shows on the shots, but in a month it will be balanced.
