Eelco Sintnicolaas and Morgan Lake were the winners at the 27th edition of Multistars, part of the IAAF Combined Events Challenge, at the Stadio Luigi Ridolfi in Florence. Sintnicolaas, the European indoor champion, won the decathlon with 8161, while 16-year-old Lake smashed the British youth best with an impressive score of 5896.After a rainy and cool morning, weather improved with a bit of sun in the afternoon, although the temperature remained chilly.Overnight leader Sintnicolaas picked up where he left off by winning the 110m hurdles in 14.31 on a wet track ahead of Brazil&rsquo;s Carlos Chinin, who clocked 14.46, and Great Britain&rsquo;s Richard Reeks (14.57).After six events, Sintnicolaas increased his gap in the overall rankings to 97 points over Reeks and South American record-holder Chinin, who were in joint second place. Ashley Bryant, fourth at last year&rsquo;s European Under-23 Championships and runner-up at the past two editions of Multistars, was dropped to fourth overall after clocking 15.06 in the sprint hurdles.Despite a heavy downpour, Sintnicolaas set a discus PB of 43.38m to maintain his lead after seven events with 5697, more than 100 points ahead of Chinin who threw 42.00m. Sintnicolaas&rsquo;s compatriot Pieter Braun, aged 21, set another personal best with 42.53m to move into third place overall, just eight points ahead of Bryant, who produced a best throw of 41.81m.Sintnicolaas won his strongest event, the pole vault, with 5.25m to increase his leading margin to 373 points over Bryant, who cleared 4.55m. Brown vaulted 4.45m to consolidate his third place ahead of Reeks.The positions remained the same after the javelin, one of Bryant&rsquo;s best events, with the Briton throwing 63.00m. Sintnicolaas was close behind through with 61.82m, while Braun set another PB with 60.48m.With Sintnicolaas leading by 355 points going into the final event, victory was guaranteed for the Dutch record-holder. As it happened, the 1500m didn&rsquo;t affect the overall rankings whatsoever for the 10 athletes who finished the full decathlon.Braun won the 1500m in 4:31.09 to finish third with 7773, adding more than 200 points to his PB, while Bryant clocked 4:35.72 to bring his tally to 7802, finishing second at Multistars for the third successive year. But there was no catching Sintnicolaas, who clocked 4:35.23 to win comfortably overall with 8161. In a competition heavily affected by rain for three quarters of the competition, Sintnicolaas was the only athlete to score more than 8000 points.&ldquo;Today I&rsquo;m glad with my 5.25m in the pole vault and my 61.82m in the javelin,&rdquo; said Sintnicolaas, who twisted his ankle in the shot put on the first day. &ldquo;It was a good confidence booster. I&rsquo;m also happy with my result in the discus because it was hard competing with a lot of rain. In the 400m the conditions were very hard because the track was slippery.&ldquo;I have had a good start to my season. I had surgery five weeks before Sopot but I managed to finish fourth there. I will have four weeks to recover before my next competition in Gotzis.&rdquo;Second-place finisher Bryant is now looking ahead to two championship decathlons within the space of three weeks this summer. &ldquo;The decathlon is about consistency, so I am happy, especially with the pole vault and the long jump,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I also had a good discus. My goal is to compete at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, provided that I am selected. I missed the Olympic Games in London, so it will be a special event in front of home fans. I will also compete at the European Championships in Zurich.&rdquo;Rising star Lake becomes youngest ever Multistars winnerMorgan Lake started the second day on a high note, producing the best long jump performance of the day with 6.16m, just three centimetres off her personal best. Two-time world long jump champion Fiona May &ndash; who was born in Britain but has been living in Florence for many years &ndash; was an interested spectator in the stands.Lake&rsquo;s performance moved her 191 points ahead of overnight leader Jessica Zelinka, who managed only 5.52m in the heavy rain. Belarusian Katsiaryna Netsviatayeva maintained her third-place position after jumping 5.45m.Zelinka reduced her gap on Lake to 137 points the javelin throw. The Canadian record-holder threw 39.40m to the young Briton&rsquo;s 36.62m. Meanwhile, Netsvintayeva closed in on Zelinka with 41.76m, but the best mark of the day came from Norway&rsquo;s Ida Marcussen with 48.61m.To win, Lake had to finish within 10 seconds of Zelinka in the 800m. Zelinka, whose PB of 2:07.95 dates back to 2008, tried her best to claw her way back by putting pressure on Lake, but it was not enough.Zelinka ran 2:15.79, while Lake smashed her PB with 2:22.72, bringing her winning total to 5896, smashing Katarina Johnson-Thompson&rsquo;s British youth best in what was her first ever heptathlon with senior implements. The last time a 16-year-old scored higher was back in 1997, the year in which Lake was born.&ldquo;I did not expect to win the heptathlon; I just came here to focus on each event,&rdquo; said Lake, who became the youngest ever winner at Multistars. &ldquo;I set three PBs &ndash; in the 100m hurdles, the 200m and the 800m. The other highlight was the long jump, where I came close to my PB, and the high jump.&ldquo;In two weeks I have another heptathlon in Bedford,&rdquo; added Lake, who will turn 17 on 12 May. &ldquo;I am still undecided between the World Junior Championships in Eugene and the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.&rdquo;Zelinka, who eventually slipped to third overall behind Netsviatayeva, 5868 to 5853, was delighted with her first combined events competition since the London Olympic Games.&ldquo;I didn&rsquo;t come here with big expectations,&rdquo; said Zelinka. &ldquo;I was just happy to return to compete in a heptathlon. I&rsquo;m very positive and encouraged after this competition. I didn&rsquo;t have any stand-out performances, but there were no disasters. It&rsquo;s a good starting point before the Commonwealth Games.&rdquo;Diego Sampaolo for the IAAF

Eelco Sintnicolaas and Morgan Lake were the winners at the 27th edition of Multistars, part of the IAAF Combined Events Challenge, at the Stadio Luigi Ridolfi in Florence. Sintnicolaas, the European indoor champion, won the decathlon with 8161, while 16-year-old Lake smashed the British youth best with an impressive score of 5896.

Sintnicolaas and teenager Lake triumph in Florence

Pre-event favourites Eelco Sintnicolas and Jessica Zelinka are the overnight leaders in rainy and chilly Florence at the 27th edition of the Multistars, part of the IAAF Combined Events Challenge.Dutch record-holder Sintnicolaas ended the first day with 4028 points, 36 points ahead of Great Britain&rsquo;s Ashley Bryant (3994) and 38 points ahead of his fellow Dutchman Peter Braun (3992) in a close decathlon.The heptathlon is even closer at the top with Canadian record-holder Zelinka leading by just two points over 16-year-old British rising star Morgan Lake, 3609 to 3607.Sintnicolaas overcomes twisted ankle to lead decathlonYoung Brazilian Felipe Dos Santos clocked the fastest 100m time of the day with 10.74, scoring 919 points to beat European indoor champion Sintnicolaas who also dipped below 11 seconds with 10.94. But Dos Santos unfortunately pulled up injured at the end of the race and was forced to pull out of the competition before the long jump.Great Britain&rsquo;s Ashley Bryant followed up his 11.08 100m performance with a solid 7.42m to win the long jump and take the early lead with 1758, just six points ahead of Sintnicolaas who long jumped 7.27m. Braun improved his long jump PB to 7.40m to move into third with 1731.Under a heavy downpour Sintnicolaas took the overall lead with 2479 points after his 13.98m in the shot put, moving 23 points ahead of Bryant, who managed 13.51m. Braun, the Dutch junior record-holder, maintained his overall third-place position after setting an outdoor shot put PB of 13.55m.South American record-holder Carlos Chinin from Brazil got off to a slow start in the first two events, recording 11.19 in the 100m and 7.00m in the long jump, but he recovered well with 14.37m in the shot put to move up to overall fourth place.The high jump produced a major shake-up to the overall ranking as Ukrainian champion Vasyl Ivanytskyi leapt 2.04m on a wet track to move from seventh to first overall with 3194 points , moving 33 points ahead of Bryant who cleared 1.89m.Sintnicolaas lost valuable points after only clearing 1.86m and dropped to third place. But he recaptured the overall lead by winning the 400m in 48.81 to end the first day with 4028 points.Bryant, who has finished second at Multistars for the past two years, clocked 49.60 in the 400m to finish the first day in runner-up place with 3994, his best ever day-one score at Multistars. Braun ended the day with another personal best, clocking 49.14 in the 400m to move back into third place overall.In a close contest, just 78 points separates the top six athletes at the end of the first day. France&rsquo;s Kevin Mayer, who was expected to be a contender, did not start for the 400m but hadn&rsquo;t been a significant factor earlier in the competition, placing ninth after the first four events.&ldquo;It was a hard competition in rainy and cold conditions and the track was slippery,&rdquo; said Sintnicolaas. &ldquo;I twisted my ankle during the shot put and I jumped 1.86m in the high jump where my PB is 2.08m.&rdquo;Zelinka on course for winning returnJessica Zelinka, who is contesting her first combined events competition since her sixth-place finish in the heptathlon at the 2012 Olympics, clocked the fastest 100m hurdles time with 13.26. Her early lead was no surprise, as she made the Olympic final in this event and has a PB of 12.65.Jessica Tappin from Great Britain finished second in 13.57 and 16-year-old team-mate Morgan Lake started her first senior heptathlon with a solid 14.25 clocking.Lake recovered from a failure at her opening height of 1.72m to go on to clear 1.87m in the high jump, easily the best of the day and made all the more impressive by the rainy weather conditions. It moved her into the overall lead with 2010 points, almost 100 points ahead of Tappin, who cleared 1.72m. Zelinka, competing in her weakest event, cleared 1.66m to drop to third place overall.Lake opened the shot put with a huge foul that looked close to 14 metres, but had to settle for a valid mark of 12.80m in the third round to maintain her lead.Belarusian Katsiaryna Netsviatayeva, fourth after 13.92 in the 100m hurdles and 1.72m in the high jump, moved up to second place after winning the shot put with 14.02m. Zelinka recorded 13.49m to keep her third place overall.The positions changed once again after the 200m, which Zelinka won in 24.25 to finish the first day in the lead with 3609 points. Lake set her second PB of the day, clocking 25.04 to end the first day just two points behind Zelinka. Netsviatayeva finished the first day in third place with 3544 points after running the 200m in 25.07.&ldquo;I set two personal best in the 100m hurdles and the 200m,&rdquo; said Lake. &ldquo;I also performed well in the shot put and in the high jump. Apart from the rain, I enjoyed my day in Florence in my first senior competition.&rdquo;The leading trio is closely matched in the long jump, the first event of day two. But Zelinka and Netsviatayeva are superior javelin throwers and 800m runners to Lake and are expected to battle it out for the victory tomorrow.Diego Sampaolo for the IAAF

Pre-event favourites Eelco Sintnicolas and Jessica Zelinka are the overnight leaders in rainy and chilly Florence at the 27th edition of the Multistars, part of the IAAF Combined Events Challenge.

Sintnicolaas and Zelinka lead overnight in Florence

The Multistars Trofeo Zerneri Acciai, the second leg of the 2014 IAAF Combined Events Challenge, will be held for the second consecutive year at the Stadio Luigi Ridolfi in Florence on 2-3 May 2014.In what will be the 27th edition of the traditional Italian meeting which moved last year from Desenzano del Garrda to Florence, European indoor champion Eelco Sintnicolaas and European indoor silver medallist Kevin Mayer are the stand-out names in a high-quality decathlon field which also features South American record-holder Carlos Chinin from Brazil.In Gothenburg last year Sintnicolaas broke the Dutch indoor heptathlon record with 6372, ranking him ninth on the world indoor all-time list. Sintnicolaas also holds the Dutch decathlon record with 8506 and has finished fifth in the past two editions of the IAAF World Championships.He won the European silver medal in Barcelona 2010 when he improved his PB to 8436, setting six individual PBs in the process, including the outstanding 5.45m in the pole vault, his best event.At the World Championships last year, Sintnicolaas finished one place behind Kevin Mayer, his top rival this weekend. The French all-rounder is an outstanding talent who won the world youth gold medal in 2009, the world junior title in 2010 and the European junior title in 2011.In Gothenburg last year he set indoor personal bests in six of the seven events and improved his heptathlon PB by more than 300 points to take the silver medal. Later that year he crowned his impressive 2013 season by improving his decathlon personal best to 8446 to finish fourth at the World Championships in Moscow, setting four individual PBs along the way.Chinin also enjoyed a solid 2013 season, finishing sixth in Moscow with 8388 to narrowly miss his South American record of 8393 set a few weeks earlier in Sao Paulo. The Brazilian also finished runner-up in rainy conditions in Gotzis last year with 8182 behind Canada&rsquo;s Damian Warner.Britain&rsquo;s Ashley Bryant is a well-known name at Multistars, having finished runner-up at last year&rsquo;s meeting with a PB of 7985. He then went on to improve that mark with 8070 at the European Under-23 Championships.Brazil will be also represented by 2011 world youth Octathlon bronze medallist Felipe Dos Santos, while Bryant will be joined by fellow Briton Martin Brockman, the Commonwealth bronze medallist.Last year&rsquo;s Multistars third-place finisher Pawel Wiesolek from Poland will return to Florence where he scored his 7727 personal best.Another decathlete with a 8000+ PB score is Frenchman Gael Querin who finished fifth at the European Championships in Helsinki with 8098 pointsZelinka returns to combined eventsCanadian record-holder Jessica Zelinka, sixth in the heptathlon and seventh in the 100m hurdles at the Olympic Games in London, leads the heptathlon field in Florence.Zelinka, who finished fifth at the 2008 Olympic Games, hasn&rsquo;t contested a heptathlon since the London 2012 Olympic Games. That season she split her efforts between the heptathlon and sprint hurdles and then focused exclusively on the latter in the 2013.The 32-year-old is now concentrating on combined events again, with one eye on the Commonwealth Games later this year, where she will try to win the title that narrowly eluded her in 2010.Zelinka will take on 2011 European indoor bronze medallist Remona Fransen of the Netherlands, who, like Zelinka, will be contesting her first heptathlon since 2012.Other athletes in the field with a PB higher than 6000 points are US Olympian Chantae McMillan, who has a PB of 6188, Greece&rsquo;s Sofia Ifadidou, who won the Multistars title in 2012 with a PB of 6109, and Norwegian record-holder Ida Marcussen.The Multistars meeting has always had a strong tradition in revealing rising stars and this year the focus will be on Britain&rsquo;s Morgan Lake. Widely tipped to follow in the footsteps of Denise Lewis, Jessica Ennis and Katarina Johnson-Thompson, Lake sensationally broke the long-standing British under-17 high jump record in the heptathlon at the 2013 World Youth Championships in Donetsk by clearing 1.90m; a height that would have been enough to win the individual title.During the 2014 indoor season, Lake broke Carolina Kluft&rsquo;s world youth indoor pentathlon best with 4284. In Florence this weekend she could have in her sights Johnson-Thompson&rsquo;s UK age-16 best of 5481.Another young athlete to watch out for is Brazil&rsquo;s world junior bronze medallist Tamara De Souza.Diego Sampaolo for the IAAF

The Multistars Trofeo Zerneri Acciai, the second leg of the 2014 IAAF Combined Events Challenge, will be held for the second consecutive year at the Stadio Luigi Ridolfi in Florence on 2-3 May 2014.

Sintnicolaas and teenager Lake triumph in Florence

Sintnicolaas and Zelinka lead overnight in Florence

Mayer faces Sintnicolaas in Florence as Zelinka makes heptathlon return