This Thursday in San Diego (United States), Kevin Meyer dreamed of a quiet start in the decathlon to earn his Olympic qualification. Under the California sun, the world record holder was troubled by a slight twist in his left knee during the long jump warm-up.
In an almost empty stadium of the “Aztecs” of the University of San Diego, the double Olympic vice-champion started his day with a 100m dash in 10”75 (0.2 m/s wind), well off his record. (10”50).
The 2017 and 2022 world champion then looked dazed while preparing for the long jump. On his only warm-up jump, he lost one of the spikes on the bottom of his shoe during his run-up, causing him to experience poor support for a slight bend in his left knee.
Best weight throw for three years
Meyer fared well in the second event among his university athlete competitors: he jumped 7.07 meters (0.3 m/s wind) on the first attempt, before failing on the second attempt and faltering on the third. Facing competition far below his standards (record at 7.80m).
The first howl of relief came during his second attempt at the weight, which sailed to 16.10m, his best throw in three years. After three events, the 32-year-old Frenchman has a total of 2,604 points, far from the base of his world record (9,126 points in 2018), but still within the Olympic minimum (8,460).
