For the third time in his career, Kevin Mayer was crowned European indoor heptathlon champion on Sunday in Istanbul, bringing France a first title in these championships. Mayer had to fight until the end to resist the Norwegian Sander Skotheim. Estonian Risto Lillemets won the bronze medal.
Kevin Mayer dominates Europe. For the third time in his career, the French athlete was crowned European indoor heptathlon champion on Sunday in Istanbul, bringing France a first title in these championships. The decathlete however had to fight until the end of the 1,000m, the last of the seven events, to resist the Norwegian Sander Skotheim. Estonian Risto Lillemets won the bronze medal.
After two days where he alternated between the good and the less good, Mayer (31) had not been able to stand out from his competitors as he is used to. The 31-year-old decathlon world record holder started the 1,000m 101 points, or about nine seconds, over Skotheim, a younger opponent (20 years old) and faster than him over the distance. . As expected, the Norwegian set fire to the 1,000m but cracked a little at the end (2 min 37 sec 82), allowing Mayer to dominate him by 30 points in the standings, 6,348 points against 6,318.
Hope for the Olympics
Double world champion and double Olympic vice-champion in the decathlon, played outdoors in the summer, Mayer won a third European indoor heptathlon champion title after 2017 and 2021. He is also world champion in 2018 hall of discipline.
In a struggling French athletics team, he was the only medalist at the last World Championships in Eugene (USA) in July 2022 (decathlon gold) and is the strongest chance of a medal at the Paris Olympics. in 2024.