Decastar titles up for grabs after closely fought first day in Talence

Both Decastar titles remain firmly up for grabs after a closely fought opening day in Talence on Friday (18), with Hakim McMorris and Noor Vidts holding narrow overnight leads at the World Athletics Combined Events Tour Gold meeting.

Just 57 points separate the top three in the decathlon, where McMorris leads France’s Makenson Gletty and Norway’s Sander Skotheim, while only 14 points divide Belgian duo Vidts and Nafissatou Thiam in the heptathlon.

McMorris put together a strong opening five events to reach 4471 points. The US athlete clocked 10.55 in a wind-assisted 100m, leapt 7.72m in the long jump and cleared 2.00m in the high jump before producing the fastest 400m of the day, 46.77.

But he has little room for error heading into the second day.

Gletty is just 44 points behind after enjoying one of his best opening days. The Frenchman threw 15.86m in the shot put and set a PB of 2.06m in the high jump, while Skotheim is only another 13 points adrift. The Norwegian was particularly impressive in the long jump, where his 7.89m was the best mark of the competition.

Jeff Tesselaar is fourth with 4351 and Harrison Williams fifth on 4302, while Sven Roosen, eighth overnight with 4266, remains within striking distance of the leading group heading into some of his stronger disciplines.

Damian Warner, the 2021 Olympic champion, is currently sixth. The Canadian started with 10.62 in the 100m and 7.82m in the long jump, but lost ground later in the day and closed with 49.97 in the 400m.

Further down the standings, Olympic champion Markus Rooth reached the halfway stage of his first decathlon since his triumph at the Paris 2024 Games. Following an injury-disrupted two years, the Norwegian returned to the full 10-event discipline with marks of 10.95, 7.42m, 14.53m, 1.91m and 50.11 to end the day 14th with 4081 points.

The heptathlon is similarly finely balanced.

Vidts leads with 3830 after a consistent opening day that started with a wind-assisted 13.23 in the 100m hurdles. She followed it with 1.79m in the high jump and 14.44m in the shot put before clocking 24.31 in the 200m.

Three-time Olympic champion Thiam, contesting her first full heptathlon of the year, is just behind on 3816.

She clocked 13.73 into still conditions in the hurdles, then cleared 1.85m before producing the best shot put mark of the competition with 15.10m. A 24.96 run in the 200m kept her firmly in touch going into a second day that features two of her strongest disciplines, the long jump and javelin.

Germany’s Anna-Elisabeth Ehlers is also enjoying a strong competition. She sits third on 3753 after clearing a PB of 1.91m in the high jump and ending the day with 24.30 in the 200m.

Erin Marsh is fourth with 3734, ahead of Vanessa Grimm on 3682, with several more athletes still within range of the podium places.