Paris Olympics preview: combined events

Women's heptathlon

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• Nafi Thiam on the brink of making history with potential third Olympic gold
• 2023 world leader Anna Hall is on the comeback trail
• Anouk Vetter and Katarina Johnson-Thompson targeting another global medal

When Nafi Thiam lined up for the heptathlon at the recent European Championships, she hadn’t competed in almost a year due to the injury that led to her withdrawal from last year’s World Championships.

But any uncertainties over her form were soon laid to rest as she produced her trademark title-winning form to take gold with 6848, the third-best score of her career. Her series included a 1.95m high jump, a 15.06m shot put and a 53.00m throw in the javelin. She even finished with a PB of 2:11.79 in the 800m; what was once a weak event for the Belgian is now a solid-scoring discipline.

The 29-year-old, who won the Olympic titles in 2016 and 2021, now heads to Paris as the favourite for the heptathlon crown. If she succeeds, she’ll make history by becoming the first woman to win three heptathlon golds. In fact, just one woman – Polish hammer thrower Anita Wlodarczyk – has ever won three Olympic golds in a single athletics discipline.

Since 2016, only one athlete has managed to defeat Thiam in a major championships combined events competition. Katarina Johnson-Thompson beat the Belgian to the 2019 world title, breaking the British record with 6981.

Injury ruined Johnson-Thompson’s chances at the last Olympics, but she rebounded to win the world title in Budapest last year. She took part in the recent European Championships but withdrew as a precaution after sustaining a minor leg injury. She returned to action a few weeks later and recorded season’s bests of 13.33 in the shot put and 6.54m in the long jump, suggesting she’ll be competitive enough to be in the medal hunt in Paris.

But many other heptathletes heading to the French capital will also be eager to step on to the podium.

Anouk Vetter of the Netherlands took silver behind Thiam in Tokyo, and at the 2022 World Championships. She won at the Hypo-Meeting in Götzis with 6642, beating many of the athletes who’ll be present in Paris. Vetter may not have the same jumping prowess as Thiam, but she’s one of the few heptathletes with the ability of beating the Belgian in the throws. In Götzis, for example, Vetter threw 15.37m in the shot and 57.91m in the javelin.

Auriana Lazraq-Khlass was a surprise silver medallist at the European Championships. The 25-year-old went into this year with a PB of 6179, but in Rome she produced PBs in six of the seven events to finish with a score of 6635. Factor in the support she’ll get from the home crowd in Paris, and it’s not unreasonable to think she could improve further.

USA’s Anna Hall started last year in sensational style, smashing her PB to win in Götzis with 6988. A mid-season injury meant she wasn’t firing on all cylinders at the World Championships in Budapest, though she still managed to come away with silver. The 23-year-old faced further setbacks in the off season, but returned to action this year to win the US title with 6614, suggesting she could challenge for a third successive global medal.

Thiam’s Belgian teammate Noor Vidts made history earlier this year by becoming the first woman to win a second world indoor pentathlon title. She followed it by earning bronze at the European Championships with 6596, improving on the PB she set when finishing fourth at the Tokyo Olympics.

Vetter is joined on the Dutch team by world indoor bronze medallist Sofie Dokter and Olympic bronze medallist Emma Oosterwegel. Hall, meanwhile, has US compatriots Chari Hawkins and Taliyah Brooks for company.

Switzerland’s Annik Kalin is also one to watch, especially in the long jump, having set a national record of 6.84m in the European Championships heptathlon.

 

Men's decathlon

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• Kevin Mayer in race against time to be fit for gruelling decathlon
• World leader Leo Neugebauer is tantalisingly close to joining the 9000-point club
• Defending champion Damian Warner the sole Canadian entrant after world champion Piere LePage is ruled out through injury

Ever since he broke the world decathlon record with 9126 in 2018, Kevin Mayer has been touted as France’s best hope of a gold medal at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. That kind of pressure is difficult for anyone to bear, not least a decathlete who has to contest 10 disciplines, but Mayer is seemingly able to take it all in his stride as it’s simply on a par with the level of expectation he places on himself.

His journey to the Games has not been a simple one, though. After winning his second world title in Oregon in 2022, he didn’t finish at the European Championships one month later and then withdrew injured from the World Championships in Budapest after just two disciplines.

It meant that, up until last month, he didn’t have a qualifying mark for the Olympics. The European Championships in Rome represented his final realistic chance to qualify, and he did exactly that. He resisted going all-guns-blazing in each discipline and instead did just enough to make it through both days with a solid mark, eventually scoring 8476 to finish fifth.

Less than a month later, however, disaster struck when Mayer picked up an injury while competing at the Wanda Diamond League meeting in Paris. Since then, he has undertaken an intense programme of rehabilitation to give himself every chance of making it to the start line. But it’s not the preparation he’d have wanted ahead of a big home Games where he’s hoping to improve on the silver medals he won in Tokyo and Rio.

In stark contrast, Leo Neugebauer has had a dream build-up to the Games. The 24-year-old made a big breakthrough last year to win the NCAA title in a German record of 8836, and he then went on to finish fifth at the World Championships in Budapest.

This year he has been in even better form, winning the NCAA indoor heptathlon title in a German record of 6347 and then taking the outdoor NCAA decathlon crown with a world-leading 8961, moving him to sixth on the world all-time list.

Neugebauer has few weaknesses too. He’s an 8.00m long jumper, a 58.70m discus thrower, a 17.46m shot putter, a 47.08 400m runner and a 5.30m pole vaulter.

Similarly, defending champion Damian Warner has incredible all-round ability and tremendous consistency. The Canadian won gold in Tokyo three years ago with a national record of 9018, but injury forced him to withdraw from the World Championships one year later.

He returned to the podium last year, though, taking world silver in Budapest behind teammate Pierce LePage. Earlier this year, Warner won a record eighth title at the Hypo Meeting in Götzis, scoring 8678.

It’s safe to assume that Warner will once again contend for a medal in Paris. In all of the major championship decathlons he has completed from 2013 onwards, he has earned medals in all but one.

Unfortunately, world champion LePage recently announced that he won’t compete at the Games due to a herniated disc in his back.

Estonia’s Johannes Erm heads to Paris off the back of winning the European title with 8764, an improvement of almost 300 points on the PB he set when finishing ninth at last year’s World Championships.

The strong Estonian contingent also includes Karel Tilga, who was fourth at last year’s World Championships, and 2022 European bronze medallist Janek Oiglane.

Puerto Rico’s Ayden Owens-Delerme is another with medal potential. He finished fourth at the 2022 World Championships at the age of 22, then moved to third on the world indoor all-time list with his 6518 runner-up finish at the 2023 NCAA Indoor Championships.

He focused more on the 400m hurdles last year, clocking a PB of 48.26, but made decathlon his focus for 2024 and improved his national record to 8732 in April.

Compatriots Sander Skotheim and Markus Rooth have pushed one another to numerous Norwegian records in recent years. Skotheim scored 8590 in Götzis last year, then Rooth beat his teammate to the European U23 title with 8608.

More recently at the European Championships in Rome, however, Skotheim came away with the silver medal and national record of 8635. Rooth was also set for a good score, but was forced to withdraw after nine events.

Heath Baldwin was the surprise winner of the US Olympic Trials, having added almost 600 points to his PB this year. He’s joined on the US squad by experienced duo Zach Ziemek and Harrison Williams.

Niklas Kaul finished fourth at the European Championships with 8547, his best score since winning the world title back in 2019. He may not appear high up on the leader board on the first day, but the 26-year-old German will come on strong on day two.

Australia’s Ashley Moloney earned Olympic bronze at the age of 21 in Tokyo, but has struggled with injuries since then. He was unable to finish the four decathlons he started last year, but this year managed to score 8367 to place fourth in Götzis.

Others to watch out for include world bronze medallist Lindon Victor, European bronze medallist Makenson Gletty of France and Hypo-Meeting runner-up Sven Roosen of the Netherlands.

Jon Mulkeen for World Athletics