France's Kevin Mayer breaks world decathlon record
Former record holder Ashton Eaton congratulates Mayer on Twitter
On a spectacular day for track and field fans, Kevin Mayer of France set a decathlon world record in front of a home crowd, just hours after Eliud Kipchoge smashed the marathon world record in Berlin.
Competing at the Decastar event in southwestern France, world champion Mayer amassed a total of 9,126 points, improving on the previous record of 9,045 set by American athlete Ashton Eaton at the 2015 world championships in Beijing.
Earlier, Kipchoge clocked 2:01:39 at the Berlin Marathon.
That was an incredible display of ability! I’m super happy for <a href="https://twitter.com/mayer_decathlon?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@mayer_decathlon</a> & 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!
—@AshtonJEatonIn the decathlon, Mayer fell on his back in celebration after he crossed the line of the 1,500 metres — the last of 10 events — in four minutes 36.11 seconds, a time he knew would guarantee him the record.
Mayer came to Talence on the back of a disappointing showing at last month's European Championship, where he was eliminated after three fouls in the long jump.