Nafissatou Thiam in the heptathlon javelin at the Decastar meeting in Talence (© Jean-Pierre Durand)
Three-time Olympic heptathlon champion Nafissatou Thiam and the past two Olympic decathlon champions, Markus Rooth and Damian Warner, headline the fields for the 50th anniversary edition of Décastar – this season’s final World Athletics Combined Events Tour Gold meeting – in Talence on Friday and Saturday (18-19).
Belgium’s Thiam contests her first full heptathlon of the year after testing herself in select events during the Combined Events Tour Gold meeting in Ratingen in June, clearing 1.84m in the high jump and throwing 14.64m in the shot put. She then contested the high jump during the Wanda Diamond League Final on home soil in Brussels, again clearing 1.84m.
The 32-year-old, a two-time world champion in 2017 and 2022, competed at last year’s World Championships in Tokyo but withdrew after five events. Her most recent completed heptathlon came at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, where she won with 6880 – the third-highest score of her career behind her national record of 7013 set in Götzis in 2017 and 6947 from the 2022 World Championships.
Her competition includes her compatriot Noor Vidts, the two-time world indoor pentathlon champion who claimed Olympic bronze in Paris.
They will be joined in Talence by three other athletes who have surpassed 6300 points – Germany’s Vanessa Grimm, Lithuania’s Beatričė Juškevičiūtė and USA's Erin Marsh. Grimm set a PB of 6381 to finish sixth at the Hypomeeting in Götzis in May, while Juškevičiūtė (6323) and Marsh (6305) are also in the form of their lives this year.
Great Britain’s Niamh Emerson continues her comeback after injury. The 27-year-old marked her return to major championship competition by finishing sixth at the Commonwealth Games. In Talence she will line up alongside her compatriot Ellen Barber, who was fourth at the Commonwealth Games, as well as Sweden’s Lovisa Karlsson and Germany’s Anna-Elisabeth Ehlers.
Décastar also features the return of Rooth, who contests his first decathlon since his win at the Paris Olympics. The 24-year-old scored 8796 to clinch his Olympic crown but has competed sparingly since due to injury. He competes in Talence for the second time, following his sixth place in 2022.
Décastar offers Warner his third decathlon of the season. The Canadian record-holder, who has four World Championships medals to go with his Olympic title from 2021, scored 8497 to finish fourth in Götzis before he secured silver at the Commonwealth Games.
They will face some strong competition in Talence as the two Olympic champions go up against Warner's compatriot Pierce LePage and Rooth's compatriot Sander Skotheim.
Skotheim, the 2025 world indoor heptathlon champion, has a season’s best of 8433 set when finishing third at the European Championships, while 2023 world champion LePage will want to build on the 8117 he scored in Götzis.
Dutch athlete Jeff Tesselaar set a PB of 8378 to finish one place behind Skotheim at the European Championships, while Estonia’s Karel Tilga was fifth and France’s Makenson Gletty was sixth in Birmingham, and they all clash again. Gletty has a season’s best of 8458, set when finishing second in Ratingen.
The field also features US athletes Harrison Williams, Hakim McMorris and Devon Williams, as well as Olympic fourth-place finisher Sven Roosen of the Netherlands who finished fifth – between Warner and Tilga – in Götzis in May on 8428.
Leading entries
Women’s heptathlon
Nafissatou Thiam (BEL) 7013
Noor Vidts (BEL) 6707
Vanessa Grimm (GER) 6381
Beatričė Juškevičiūtė (LTU) 6323
Erin Marsh (USA) 6305
Niamh Emerson (GBR) 6253
Lovisa Karlsson (SWE) 6218
Anna-Elisabeth Ehlers (GER) 6216
Léonie Cambours (FRA) 6192
Marie Dehning (GER) 6180
Ellen Barber (GBR) 6169
Célia Perron (FRA) 6138
Mareike Rösing (GER) 6105
Men’s decathlon
Damian Warner (CAN) 9018
Pierce LePage (CAN) 8909
Sander Skotheim (NOR) 8909
Markus Rooth (NOR) 8796
Karel Tilga (EST) 8681
Harrison Williams (USA) 8630
Sven Roosen (NED) 8607
Makenson Gletty (FRA) 8606
Hakim McMorris (USA) 8420
Devon Williams (USA) 8402
Jeff Tesselaar (NED) 8378
Amadeus Gräber (GER) 8345
Dario Dester (ITA) 8318
