Carolin Schafer in the heptathlon shot put in Gotzis (© Getty Images)
World silver medallist Carolin Schäfer and 2015 Hypomeeting winner Kai Kazmirek will return to the IAAF Combined Events Challenge meeting in Götzis on 25-26 May.
Schäfer finished on the Hypomeeting podium in 2015, 2016 and 2017, setting her lifetime best of 6836 when finishing second two years ago. The 27-year-old German will be looking for her first heptathlon victory in the Austrian town.
Along with the previously announced Katarina Johnson-Thompson, Niamh Emerson and Erica Bougard, many other top heptathletes will be in action in Götzis.
Latvia’s 2015 world bronze medallist Laura Ikauniece hasn’t completed a heptathlon since her third-place finish in Götzis in 2017 with a PB of 6815, but the 26-year-old returned to top form earlier this year and will be keen to secure a qualifying mark for the IAAF World Athletics Championships Doha 2019.
World U20 javelin champion Alina Shukh, one of the IAAF’s Gen-10 athletes for 2019, will also be in Götzis, as will 2016 European champion Anouk Vetter, 2014 world indoor champion Nadine Broersen, 2016 world U20 bronze medallist Hanne Maudens, 2008 world U20 bronze medallist Grit Sadeiko and German trio Mareike Arndt, Sophie Weissenberg and Anna Maiwald.
Kazmirek, the world bronze medallist, finished fourth in Götzis last year with 8329 in what was his only complete decathlon of 2018. The 28-year-old will be one of several strong German decathletes in action in Götzis as he will be joined by world silver medallist Rico Freimuth, 2016 world U20 champion Niklas Kaul, 2016 world indoor bronze medallist Mathias Brugger, 2014 world U20 bronze medallist Tim Nowak and 2018 Ratingen runner-up Manuel Eitel.
World indoor bronze medallist Maicel Uibo will line up alongside fellow Estonians Janek Oiglane, the fourth-place finisher at the 2017 World Championships, and Karl Robert Saluri.
Dutch duo Eelco Sintnicolaas, the 2013 European indoor champion, and Pieter Braun will return to the site of their PBs. Sintnicolaas scored 8539 in Götzis in 2017 while Braun tallied 8342 there last year.
Others in the field include Belgium’s Niels Pittomvils, Norway’s Martin Roe and Sweden’s Fredrik Samuelsson.
Organisers for the IAAF
