Emma Oosterwegel and Karel Tilga in action in Budapest (© Getty Images)
Emma Oosterwegel and Karel Tilga have been confirmed as the winners of the 2023 World Athletics Combined Events Tour, which rewards their season-long consistency in the heptathlon and decathlon, respectively.
The Combined Events Tour takes each athlete’s best three marks across the series and converts them into result scores (also used as the basis of the world rankings system). Winners of the Combined Events Tour, which features both indoor and outdoor meetings, receive a US$30,000 prize.
The top eight at the end of the season are:
Heptathlon
1 Emma Oosterwegel (NED) 3454
2 Sophie Weissenberg (GER) 3433
3 Saga Vanninen (FIN) 3399
4 Rita Nemes (HUN) 3301
5 Kate O'Connor (IRL) 3278
6 Auriana Lazraq-Khlass (FRA) 3276
7 Vanessa Grimm (GER) 3260
8 Yuliya Loban (UKR) 3232
Full standings
Decathlon
1 Karel Tilga (EST) 3622
2 Sander Skotheim (NOR) 3572
3 Lindon Victor (GRN) 3539
4 Manuel Eitel (GER) 3493
5 Makenson Gletty (FRA) 3473
6 Jente Hauttekeete (BEL) 3380
7 Jose Fernando Ferreira Santana (BRA) 3355
8 Tim Nowak (GER) 3346
Full standings
Oosterwegel’s highest single score of the season came at the Decastar meeting in Talence last month, where the Olympic bronze medallist successfully defended her heptathlon title.
With a season’s best of 6495 points, the Dutch heptathlete moved up to fourth on this year’s top list behind the three world medallists. Oosterwegel’s series in Talence included a javelin PB of 56.66m – a throw almost 10 metres farther than any other mark recorded in the competition.
Prior to that, Oosterwegel had finished third in the Stadtwerke Ratingen Mehrkampf-Meeting in June, scoring 6209 points. Like in Talence, she also surpassed 6400 in Budapest – finishing fifth in the World Athletics Championships with 6464.
Germany’s Sophie Weissenberg secured second place in the series, thanks to her performances in Gotzis, Ratingen and Budapest. She also achieved 6200-plus points in each of her scoring competitions, finishing fifth in the Gotzis Hypomeeting with 6375, second in the Stadtwerke Ratingen Mehrkampf-Meeting with 6247 and then seventh at the World Athletics Championships with a PB of 6438.
Finland’s two-time world U20 champion Saga Vanninen also had an impressive season in her first year out of that age group. She finished second in the pentathlon at the Indoor Combined Events meeting in Tallinn, scoring a PB of 4541, and was then fourth in the heptathlon in Gotzis with a PB of 6391 and ninth in the World Athletics Championships in Budapest (6289). She also won the European U23 title in Espoo.
In the decathlon, Estonia’s Tilga started his season on a high as he won in Desenzano del Garda in April, setting a Multistars record of 8482. He then finished fourth in the Hypomeeting in Gotzis (8403) and ended his campaign with the competition of his life, scoring a PB of 8681 to finish fourth at the World Championships.
His series in Budapest included PBs in the 100m, pole vault and 1500m, and in total he improved in seven of the 10 decathlon disciplines in 2023. His PB tally of 8681 in Budapest was the best ever score for fourth place.
Sander Skotheim achieved his first scoring performance as part of the tour in the heptathlon at the Indoor Combined Events meeting in Tallinn (6255) and he went on to claim silver at the European Indoor Championships in Istanbul with a Norwegian record of 6318.
He then set a decathlon PB of 8590 to finish third in Gotzis and after securing another European silver at the U23 event in Espoo, the 21-year-old placed 10th in the World Championships (8263).
Grenada’s Lindon Victor, who won the series last year, this time placed third, helped by his bronze medal win at the World Championships where he scored a national record of 8756. He also finished third at the Decastar meeting (7980) and seventh in Gotzis (8293).
World Athletics
