Kevin Mayer, the greatest chance of a French medal in athletics at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, will still have to wait to ensure his participation. After his retirement due to injury at the World Championships in Budapest in August, the Frenchman, double Olympic silver medalist (2016, 2021), is forced to go through a decathlon before the Olympics to cross the imposed bar of 8,460 points to ensure his ticket. He made this decision after a hurdle session and speaks of the “choice of reason”, while the poles they were to use are blocked at the Singapore airport. He will make his return in March to the San Diego decathlon.
At the beginning of November, he announced that he would take part in the Brisbane decathlon on December 16 and 17 and flew to Australia a few days ago to complete his preparation. Not yet sufficiently ready, Kevin Mayer finally made the decision to compete in a decathlon later.
“It will have no impact on the Olympics”
If he had ticked the Brisbane box in his calendar, he had anticipated the possibility of canceling his presence, in “case of slight tension”. “Australia was the first option I considered, I had in mind to give myself every opportunity to do so but at no time did I want to skip any step in my preparation,” recalls Kevin Mayer, who explains that he prefers to play it safe, not yet being perfectly comfortable on the hurdles (he notably felt a little pain in his hip, which he does not want to aggravate).
“I am in very good preparation, very intense, but it would not have been reasonable to do the decathlon, there was even no logic in putting one in the middle of this training course. I’m not yet ready to do a decathlon 100%, I would have needed another month or two, and we’ll give it a try. » Kevin Mayer says he “hesitated”. “It was the coaches who, after a hurdles session on Tuesday, told me not to do it. » The decathlete will return from Australia next Wednesday, and will give himself a few days of rest.
“In my head, Australia was only one option, the most comfortable, but also the most reckless. Of course it’s a frustration, because when you put a decathlon in mind, you have a big desire that builds up, but I know that I have more than three months until San Diego, it’s quite comfortable. March is very early in the season and it will have no impact on the Olympics, he assures. I am quite calm with this choice to start again with a preparation which is in fact more logical. There’s no point rushing into the first decathlon that comes along. I can be better in the next few months. Australia will have been a big training camp, without a decathlon at the end. »
2023-12-13 23:35:47
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