One week after winning the Oceania Championships, the opening leg of the 2015 IAAF Combined Events Challenge, New Zealand&rsquo;s Brent Newdick will travel to the Italian city of Florence for the Multistars meeting on Friday and Saturday (15-16), the second stop in the series.It will be the third consecutive year that the Luigi Ridolfi Stadium has hosted the meeting, which was previously held in Desenzano del Garda.Newdick won the Oceania title with 7140. Although it was some way shy of his 8114 lifetime best, he didn&rsquo;t need to be at his best as he won by almost 1000 points. But the two-time World University Games medallist won&rsquo;t be afforded the same luxury in Florence.He will face 2013 European indoor bronze medallist Mihail Dudas. The 25-year-old hasn&rsquo;t completed a decathlon since setting a Serbian record of 8275 at the 2013 IAAF World Championships. After missing most of 2014 through injury, he returned earlier this year to win the national indoor heptathlon title with 5535.Like Newdick, Poland&rsquo;s Pawel Wiesiolek has previously made it on to the podium at the Multistars meeting, finishing third in 2013 with a personal best of 7727. He won the Polish indoor heptathlon title earlier this year with a PB of 5986 and went on to compete at the European Indoor Championships.If the likes of Dudas and Newdick aren&rsquo;t at their best, Britain&rsquo;s Liam Ramsay could be the one to watch. Already this year he has set PBs in the 100m, 110m hurdles, long jump and high jump, and the 22-year-old looks set to improve on the PB of 7822 he set when winning in Woerden last year.Joining him in the traditionally big British contingent is Ben Gregory, who has a PB of 7725 and has finished sixth at the past two Commonwealth Games.Italian hopes are carried by Simone Cairoli who won his second consecutive national indoor heptathlon title in February with a personal best of 5683.Three years after winning in Desenzano with a PB of 6109, Sofia Yfantidou of Greece will be bidding to win her second Multistars title. The 30-year-old, who excels in the javelin, has already contested a heptathlon this year, scoring 5531 in Greece last month with a series that included a 55.60m javelin throw. But she took it easy in the 800m on that occasion, so should be set to score higher in Florence.Yfantidou will face Belarusian champion Katsiaryna Netsviatayeva. The 25-year-old finished runner-up at Multistars last year, her first of seven heptathlons in 2014, and later set a PB of 6121. Earlier this year she scored a pentathlon PB of 4489, setting indoor PBs in four of the five disciplines.Canada&rsquo;s Pan American Cup winner Jill Drouin, sister of Olympic high jump bronze medallist Derek Drouin, will be making her Multistars debut. The 28-year-old has a best of 5986.Commonwealth bronze medallist Jess Taylor will be looking to add her name to the list of British athletes who have made the podium at Multistars, joining the likes of Jessica Ennis-Hill, Katarina Johnson-Thompson and Morgan Lake. Compatriot and namesake Jess Tappin will also be in Florence. The 24-year-old finished seventh at Multistars last year and went on to score a PB of 5770 one month later.Belgium, another country with a strong combined events tradition, will be represented by 18-year-old Hanne Maudens, who finished fourth in the long jump at last year&rsquo;s Youth Olympics.Diego Sampaolo for the IAAF

One week after winning the Oceania Championships, the opening leg of the 2015 IAAF Combined Events Challenge, New Zealand’s Brent Newdick will travel to the Italian city of Florence for the Multistars meeting on Friday and Saturday (15-16), the second stop in the series.

Dudas, Ramsay and Yfantidou among favourites in Florence

Both of last year winners are back in the Czech town of Kladno for the TNT Express Meeting, an IAAF Combined Events Challenge event, but Kazakhstan’s Dmitriy Karpov and home crowd favorite Eliska Klucinova will not have easy tasks to retain their titles this weekend (8-9).Karpov won last year in Kladno with 8173 points and he will also have the highest bib number in the field, as they are assigned to athletes according to their personal bests, with the now 32-years old Kazakh athlete tallying and Asian record of 8725 points while winning the bronze medal at 2004 Olympic Games in Athens.“My preparation went injury free after many years, so I am looking forward to the competition. I would like to achieve at least 8200 points,” said Karpov, whose next decathlon will be at Asian Championships in Pune next month.His strongest opposition is likely to come from Belarus national record holder Andrei Krauchanka, who won the silver medalist at the 2008 Olympic Games.Krauchanka’s career has been affected by injuries and last year he underwent surgery, but he seems to be back in shape and in Firenze last month, at the first stop of IAAF Combined Events Challenge, he improved the meeting record to 8339 points. Serbia’ 2013 European Athletics Indoor Championships Heptathlon bronze medallist Mihail Dudas will participate in Kladno for the first time.&nbsp;“I know Czech Republic has a huge decathlon tradition, so I am looking forward to the competition. I feel in a really good shape and I will try to improve my national record,” said Dudas, who has a best of 8256 points.Unfortunately for home fans none of best Czech decathletes will take part. Former World record holder Roman Šebrle still has problems with his heel and his great career is most likely coming to an end. The talented Adam Sebastian Helcelet finished fourth recently at the famous Hypo Meeting in the Austrian town of Gotzis and has decided to take a rest because of a minor muscle injury. Tyminska looking for her first winFor Klucinova, Kladno is definitely her favorite place to compete. Three years ago, she equaled the Czech record with 6268 points and last year she bettered that mark by fifteen points. “Both records were nice surprises for me, so I rather don´t expect another record attack and maybe I’ll let myself be surprised again,” joked Klucinova on Friday at the traditional pre-event press conference.She finished 12th in rainy Gotzis and is looking for an improvement. “I expect better results in Hurdles, High Jump and Long Jump; and also warmer conditions,” she commented.However, there are two heptathletes in the field with better personal bests who could spoil Klucinova’s ambition of retaining her Kladno crown. Poland’s Karolina Tyminska has a best of 6544 points from two years ago and, after three second places in Kladno, this year she is definitely looking for a win. “I always did well here in the past and, after last year’s injury, I don´t have any problems this time,” said Tyminska, who has an unfortunately habit of just coming up short of the biggest honours.In addition to her Kladno frustration, she is still waiting for her first major championship medal after finishing fourth at the 2011 IAAF World Championships 2011, the 2010 European Athletics Indoor Championships and also at last year’s IAAF World Indoor Championships.Ukraine’s Hanna Melnychenko will compete in her second Heptathlon in as many weeks and she would definitely like to improve her score of 6169 points from Gotzis, especially as she has a personal best of 6445 points. The other heptathlete in the field with personal best of over 6000 points in the field is Greece’s Sofia Ifantidou. This year’s Czech champion Katerina Cachova is a last minute withdrawal due to back problems.Michal Osoba for the IAAF

Karpov and Krauchanka go head-to-head in Kladno - IAAF Combined Events Challenge 

Both of last year winners are back in the Czech town of Kladno for the TNT Express Meeting, an IAAF Combined Events Challenge event, but Kazakhstan’s Dmitriy Karpov and home crowd favorite Eliska Klucinova will not have easy tasks to retain their titles this weekend (8-9).