<a href="#FR">Fran&ccedil;ais</a>
Germany&rsquo;s Rico Freimuth and Carolin Sch&auml;fer topped the end-of-season standings in the 2017 IAAF Combined Events Challenge.
The scoring system takes each athlete&rsquo;s three best marks from the series and combines the points into an overall score. Prize money is awarded to the top eight finishers at the end of the challenge. The athlete with the highest score wins US $30,000.
<h3>Final standings</h3>
Men 1 Rico Freimuth (GER) 25,592 2 Damian Warner (CAN) 25,152 3 Kai Kazmirek (GER) 24,986 4 Janek Oiglane (EST) 24,578 5 Oleksiy Kasyanov (UKR) 24,531
Women 1 Carolin Sch&auml;fer (GER) 20,199 2 Anouk Vetter (NED) 19,496 3 Yorgelis Rodriguez (CUB) 19,166 4 Xenia Krizsan (HUN) 19,028 5 Nadine Visser (NED) 18,908
The two Germans produced the most dominant challenge campaigns for more than a decade.
Since taking the world bronze medal in 2015, Freimuth had battled injuries and failed to complete a decathlon in 2016. But he showed a return to form at the Hypo-Meeting in Gotzis when finishing third with 8365, a mark he significantly improved one month later when he won in Ratingen with a PB of 8663. He ended his season by taking the silver medal at the IAAF World Championships London 2017 with a score of 8564,
Having won in 2014, Freimuth becomes just the fifth man in history to win the Combined Events Challenge more than once, following Erki Nool, Tomas Dvorak, Roman Sebrle and Andrei Krauchanka. Freimuth&rsquo;s 25,592 is the highest winning score since Sebrle&rsquo;s 2004 mark of 25,952. Meanwhile, his winning margin of 440 points is the biggest since 2002.
Illness meant that Olympic bronze medallist Damian Warner wasn&rsquo;t at his best at the World Championships and the Canadian had to settle for fifth place in London. But, having won in Gotzis earlier in the year with 8591, he ended his season with a victory at the Decastar meeting in Talence, putting him in second place overall in the challenge standings.
Kai Kazmirek, last year&rsquo;s challenge winner, was third this time. Estonia&rsquo;s Janek Oiglane enjoyed a superb breakthrough season, culminating with a 8371 PB at the World Championships to finish fourth, a position he replicated in the overall challenge standings.
Sch&auml;fer&rsquo;s season-long consistency in the heptathlon began with a 6836 lifetime best in Gotzis. She followed that with a 6667 victory in Ratingen before taking the silver medal at the World Championships with a score of 6696. Having also won the overall title in 2016, Sch&auml;fer becomes the first back-to-back winner since compatriot Jennifer Oeser in 2011.
Sch&auml;fer&rsquo;s combined tally of 20,199 points is the highest winning score in the series since Carolina Kluft&rsquo;s 2005 win, while her winning margin of 703 points is the biggest since 2006.
World bronze medallist Anouk Vetter of the Netherlands produced a 6363 victory in Talence to finish second overall in the challenge for the second year in a row. Cuba&rsquo;s Yorgelis Rodriguez finished fourth at the World Championships and second in Talence, landing her with an overall third-place finish in the challenge.
<a name="FR"></a>IAAF
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<h1 style="font-size: 40px; line-height: 35px;">Freimuth et Sch&auml;fer remportent le Challenge des Epreuves combin&eacute;es de l&rsquo;IAAF 2017</h1>
Les Allemands Rico Freimuth et Carolin Sch&auml;fer ont termin&eacute;&nbsp;respectivement en t&ecirc;te des classements g&eacute;n&eacute;raux finaux hommes et femmes du Challenge des Epreuves combin&eacute;es de l&rsquo;IAAF 2017.
Pour &eacute;tablir le classement, seuls les trois meilleurs r&eacute;sultats de chaque athl&egrave;te dans la s&eacute;rie &eacute;taient pris en compte, l&rsquo;addition de ces points repr&eacute;sentant leur score final. Des primes en argent ont &eacute;t&eacute; d&eacute;cern&eacute;es aux trois premiers du classement g&eacute;n&eacute;ral final, le laur&eacute;at recevant un ch&egrave;que de 30&nbsp;000 dollars US.
<h3>Classements g&eacute;n&eacute;raux finaux</h3>
Hommes&nbsp; 1 Rico Freimuth (GER) 25&nbsp;592 points&nbsp; 2 Damian Warner (CAN) 25 152&nbsp; 3 Kai Kazmirek (GER) 24 986&nbsp; 4 Janek Oiglane (EST) 24 578&nbsp; 5 Oleksiy Kasyanov (UKR) 24&nbsp;531
Femmes&nbsp; 1 Carolin Sch&auml;fer (GER) 20&nbsp;199 points&nbsp; 2 Anouk Vetter (NED) 19 496&nbsp; 3 Yorgelis Rodriguez (CUB) 19 166&nbsp; 4 Xenia Krizsan (HUN) 19 028&nbsp; 5 Nadine Visser (NED) 18&nbsp;908
Les deux athl&egrave;tes allemands ont exerc&eacute; une domination sur le Challenge comme cela ne s&rsquo;&eacute;tait pas produit depuis plus d&rsquo;une d&eacute;cennie.
Depuis sa m&eacute;daille de bronze des Mondiaux de 2015, Rico Freimuth avait &eacute;t&eacute; victime de blessures &agrave; r&eacute;p&eacute;tition, et n&rsquo;avait pu mener aucune comp&eacute;tition de d&eacute;cathlon &agrave; son terme tout au long de 2016. Il a marqu&eacute; son retour en forme lors de l&rsquo;Hypo-Meeting de G&ouml;tzis, o&ugrave; il a termin&eacute; troisi&egrave;me avec 8&nbsp;365 points, un score qu&rsquo;il a am&eacute;lior&eacute; de mani&egrave;re significative un mois plus tard, lors de sa victoire &agrave; Ratingen avec un RP de 8&nbsp;663 points. Freimuth a cl&ocirc;tur&eacute; sa saison avec un titre d&eacute;croch&eacute; aux Championnats du Monde de l&rsquo;IAAF, Londres 2017, avec un total de 8&nbsp;564 points.
D&eacute;j&agrave; vainqueur du Challenge en 2014, Freimuth devient le cinqui&egrave;me homme de l&rsquo;histoire seulement &agrave; remporter le Challenge des Epreuves combin&eacute;es plus d&rsquo;une fois, rejoignant ainsi Erki Nool, Tomas Dvorak, Roman Sebrle et Andrei Krauchanka.
Les 25&nbsp;592 points de Freimuth constituent le score gagnant le plus &eacute;lev&eacute; depuis le total de 25&nbsp;952 points r&eacute;alis&eacute; par Sebrle en 2004. En outre, son avance sur son dauphin, 440 points, est la marge la plus importante depuis 2002.
Le m&eacute;daill&eacute; de bronze olympique Damian Warner, malade, n&rsquo;&eacute;tait pas au sommet de sa forme aux Championnats du Monde, o&ugrave; le Canadien a d&ucirc; se satisfaire d&rsquo;une cinqui&egrave;me place. Cependant, gr&acirc;ce &agrave; sa victoire &agrave; G&ouml;tzis (avec 8&nbsp;591 points), plus t&ocirc;t dans la saison, et un ultime succ&egrave;s au Decastar de Talence, il a termin&eacute; second du classement g&eacute;n&eacute;ral final du Challenge.
Kai Kazmirek, vainqueur du Challenge 2016, a termin&eacute; troisi&egrave;me cette ann&eacute;e. L&rsquo;Estonien Janek Oiglane a connu une saison lors de laquelle il a v&eacute;ritablement &eacute;clat&eacute; sur la sc&egrave;ne mondiale, avec en point d&rsquo;orgue un RP de 8&nbsp;371 points r&eacute;alis&eacute; lors des Championnats du Monde de l&rsquo;IAAF, o&ugrave; il a fini quatri&egrave;me, tout comme au classement g&eacute;n&eacute;ral final du Challenge.
La r&eacute;gularit&eacute; de Carolin Sch&auml;fer tout au long de la saison a commenc&eacute; avec un nouveau record personnel de 6&nbsp;836 points &agrave; l&rsquo;heptathlon &agrave; G&ouml;tzis. Elle a ensuite r&eacute;ussi 6&nbsp;667 points lors de sa victoire &agrave; Ratingen, avant de gagner la m&eacute;daille d&rsquo;argent aux Mondiaux avec un total de 6&nbsp;696 points. D&eacute;j&agrave; victorieuse du Challenge en 2016, Sch&auml;fer devient la premi&egrave;re femme &agrave; gagner deux Challenges cons&eacute;cutifs depuis sa compatriote Jennifer Oeser en 2011.
Le total combin&eacute; de Sch&auml;fer (20 199 points) est le score total le plus &eacute;lev&eacute; dans la s&eacute;rie depuis la victoire de Carolina Kluft en 2005, et sa marge victorieuse de 703 points est la plus importante depuis 2006.
La m&eacute;daill&eacute;e de bronze mondiale Anouk Vetter, des Pays-Bas, a gagn&eacute; &agrave; Talence avec un total de 6&nbsp;363 points, pour terminer &agrave; la seconde place du Challenge pour la deuxi&egrave;me ann&eacute;e cons&eacute;cutive. Enfin, la Cubaine Yorgelis Rodriguez a termin&eacute; quatri&egrave;me aux Championnats du Monde de l&rsquo;IAAF et deuxi&egrave;me &agrave; Talence, pour terminer troisi&egrave;me du classement g&eacute;n&eacute;ral final.
IAAF

Germany’s Rico Freimuth and Carolin Schäfer topped the end-of-season standings in the 2017 IAAF Combined Events Challenge.

Freimuth and Schäfer win 2017 IAAF Combined Events Challenge 

World bronze medallist Rico Freimuth showed he is back to his best at the Stadtwerke Ratingen Mehrkampf Meeting on Sunday (25), winning the decathlon at the IAAF Combined Events Challenge meeting with a world-leading PB of 8663.
Meanwhile, German compatriot Carolin Sch&auml;fer confirmed her good form by winning the heptathlon by almost 500 points with 6667, just 169 points shy of the PB she set one month ago in G&ouml;tzis.
Freimuth held a two-point lead over Grenada&rsquo;s Kurt Felix at the end of the first day, but he significantly extended his margin in the first event of the second day, winning the 110m hurdles in 13.87.
Fellow German Kai Kazmirek clocked 14.62 to temporarily overtake Felix in the overall standings after the Grenadian ran 14.92.
Freimuth then added more than a metre to his discus PB, throwing 51.56m to once again finish ahead of Felix, who managed 50.59m. With three events to go, the German had extended his lead to 154 points.
Felix slipped down to third overall after the pole vault, having cleared 4.50m. Kazmirek&rsquo;s 5.20m proved to be the best vault of the day, while Freimuth was once again in PB form, equalling his lifetime best of 4.90m.
But Felix rebounded in the javelin, throwing a PB of 72.80m to break the meeting record and move back into second place. Freimuth threw a season&rsquo;s best of 62.33m to maintain his overall lead while Kazmirek remained on course for a podium finish after throwing 60.52m.
With a 115-point margin going into the final event, Freimuth&rsquo;s lead was relatively safe. He duly covered the 1500m in 4:37.04, his fastest time for four years, to bring his winning tally to 8663, adding more than 100 points to the PB he set when taking the bronze medal at the IAAF World Championships Beijing 2015.
His winning score missed the competition record by 38 points and is the second-best winning mark at the Stadtwerke Ratingen Mehrkampf Meeting after Roman Sebrle&rsquo;s 8701 victory in 2002.
Freimuth didn&rsquo;t complete a decathlon last year after an inflamed shoulder tendon and torn calf muscle interrupted his training ahead of the 2016 season. But the 29-year-old showed much promise in G&ouml;tzis last month, finishing third with 8365, and then built on that momentum with his performance in Ratingen.
&ldquo;Today I really wanted to attack the world lead and produce a gutsy run in the 1500m,&rdquo; said Freimuth, who won in Ratingen in 2014. &ldquo;I succeeded.&rdquo;
Felix held on for second place, smashing his PB with a score of 8509. Kazmirek was third with 8478, the second-best score of his life behind the 8580 PB he set to finish fourth at last year&rsquo;s Olympics. It was the first time that two men had bettered 8500 and three men had exceeded 8400 in Ratingen.
<h3>Sch&auml;fer scores 6667</h3>
Having set two PBs on Saturday to hold the overnight lead, Sch&auml;fer produced the second-best marks of her life in the first two events on Sunday to extend her lead with each round.
First up was the long jump, which she won with 6.37m. Nadine Visser, her closest rival, managed 6.07m to fall a further 94 points behind the German.
The margin was even more pronounced in the javelin after Sch&auml;fer threw 50.34m, almost 10 metres farther than Visser&rsquo;s 41.15m. It meant that Sch&auml;fer went into the final event, the 800m, with an unassailable lead of 463 points.
Sch&auml;fer could have afforded to take it easy in the 800m, but she put in a strong effort to cross the line in second place in 2:17.56, bringing her winning score to 6667, the second-best mark of her career. It was also the third-best heptathlon in Ratingen, bettered only by 1997 winner Sabine Braun (6787) and last year&rsquo;s winner Jessica Ennis-Hill (6733).
Visser stayed in close enough contact with Mareike Arndt in the 800m to hold on to second place with 6183. Arndt took third place with a PB of 6106.
Germany&rsquo;s two-time world silver medallist Jennifer Oeser, who had been in fifth place overall from the second event onwards, did not line up for the 800m and announced her retirement from athletics shortly afterwards. The 33-year-old set her lifetime best of 6683 when taking bronze at the 2010 European Championships.
Jon Mulkeen for the IAAF

World bronze medallist Rico Freimuth showed he is back to his best at the Stadtwerke Ratingen Mehrkampf Meeting on Sunday (25), winning the decathlon at the IAAF Combined Events Challenge meeting with a world-leading PB of 8663.

Freimuth and Schäfer take top honours in Ratingen

Rico Freimuth and Carolin Schafer of Germany are the overnight leaders at the Stadtwerke Ratingen Mehrkampf-Meeting, part of the IAAF Combined Events Challenge, which commenced on Saturday (24).
In a tight men's decathlon contest, Freimuth ended the day with 4417 points, just two ahead of Grenada's Kurt Felix. Kai Kazmirek is sitting in third with 4402.
It's a different picture entirely in the heptathlon, where Schafer ended the day with 3978, nearly 200 points ahead of Dutchwoman Nadine Visser, who has tallied 3787. Further back, Mareike Arndt of Germany is sitting in third with 3665.
<h3>Another solid start for Schafer</h3>
Schafer, the 2016 Combined Events Challenge winner, illustrated her fine early season form by nearly duplicating her showing from last month's Gotzis meeting where she upped her lifetime best to 6836.&nbsp;
The 25-year-old began on a strong note, clocking a 13.07 personal best in the 100m hurdles, 0.02 better than the mark she set in Gotzis in May.
She sailed clear at 1.84m in the high jump, two centimetres shy of the personal best she set last month, also in Gotzis. She took one attempt at a would-be PB of 1.87m before deciding to move on to the shot put, which would be by far her weakest event of the day. She reached a modest 13.84m, falling nearly a metre short of her 14.76m toss in Gotzis.
Schafer bounced back to end the day on a high however, clocking a meeting record 23.27 in the 200m, another personal best, for 1052 points and a 191-point lead heading into day two.
Visser clocked 12.93 in the hurdles, the fastest of the day and a competition record, topped 1.72m in the high jump, and reached 13.64m in the shot put before ending her day with a 23.77 dash in the 200m, the second fastest of the competition. Her 3787 day one total leaves an assault on her 6447 lifetime best set in Gotzis two years ago well within her capabilities.&nbsp;
Germans take up the next six spots, with Mareike Arndt and Anna Maiwald looking strongest, with 3665 and 3619 tallies, respectively. Arndt won the shot put with 14.75m while Maiwald's best effort came in the 100m hurdles, where she clocked a personal best 13.43.
Jennifer Oeser's ambitions to make a fifth World Championships appearance will prove an uphill battle on day two. The two-time world silver medallist is currently a distant fifth with 3478 and three compatriots in front of her.
<h3>Freimuth heads a fierce decathlon battle</h3>
On the men's side, world bronze medallist Freimuth got off to a solid start with a wind-assisted 10.44 win in the 100m. He extended his lead after the long jump where he reached 7.60m, adding five centimetres to his personal best with the second-best leap of the day.
A 14.87m toss in the shot put &ndash; again the second best of the competition&nbsp;&ndash; followed, paving the way for another PB in the high jump, his 2.01m clearance his first above the two-metre mark. He ended the day with a 48.76 dash in the 400m to carry a narrow two-point lead into the second day.&nbsp;
Felix, who tallied his 8323 career best in the Rio Olympics where he finished ninth, also performed well. Opening with a 10.91 in the 100m, the 28-year-old reached 7.68m in the long jump, just six centimetres shy of his personal best.
He then won the shot put with 15.31m, a personal best by eight centimetres, and cleared 2.07m in the high jump &ndash; one of two to top that height on the day&nbsp;&ndash; before finishing off with a near-PB 48.67 in the 400m.
Kazmirek meanwhile got off to a somewhat sluggish start in his season's debut, opening the day with a 10.85 dash in the 100m and a 7.50m best in the long jump, both well outside his lifetime bests.
But he got on track in the shot put with a 14.63m effort, the second best of his career, and a 2.07m clearance in the high jump, equalling Felix for the best of the day. He closed with a 47.40 run in the 400m for 938 points, the day's quickest.
A pair of notables won't be starting the second day; indeed neither completed the first. Germany's Arthur Abele, the winner here last year with a personal best of 8605, was forced out of the competition after the high jump where he was hit by an injury to his right achilles tendon.
Leonel Suarez, Cuba's two-time Olympic bronze medallist, made his exit even sooner when an injury sustained in the long jump relegated him to the sidelines for the rest of the weekend.
Bob Ramsak for the IAAF

Rico Freimuth and Carolin Schafer of Germany are the overnight leaders at the Stadtwerke Ratingen Mehrkampf-Meeting, part of the IAAF Combined Events Challenge, which commenced on Saturday (24).

Freimuth and Schafer the overnight leaders in Ratingen 

Last year&rsquo;s winners, Germany&rsquo;s Kai Kazmirek and Canada&rsquo;s Brianne Theisen-Eaton, will return to the famous Mosle Stadium to defend their titles at the Hypo Meeting in Gotzis, part of the IAAF Combined Events Challenge, on Saturday and Sunday (28-29).
Kazmirek and last year&rsquo;s world championships decathlon bronze medallist Rico Freimuth will lead a strong German contingent to the famous Mosle Stadium, which also features 2015 European indoor championships heptathlon silver medallist Arthur Abele and 2008 world junior champion Jan Felix Knobel.
Germany dominated the decarthlon at the 2015 edition, filling three of the top four places.
Kazmirek set what was then world-leading mark of 8462 points, just nine shy of his personal best set in 2014 when he finished second to Trey Hardee in Gotzis, before going on to finish sixth at the 2015 IAAF World Championships Beijing 2015.
Freimuth will compete for the sixth time in his career in Gotzis. Last year he finished fourth with with 8380 points, just 18 away from a place on the podium, and in Beijing&nbsp; he won the bronze medal with a personal best of 8561.
Gotzis is a special place for the Freimuth family, as his father Uwe won here in 1985 and 1988.
The German team will be also represented by 20-year-old Tim Novak, who finished third at both the 2013 European junior&nbsp; championships and 2014 world junior championships.
<h3>Warner aiming for second victory</h3>
Canada&rsquo;s 2015 world championships silver medallist Damian Warner will be looking to win at this meeting for the second time. In 2013, he scored 8307 points for victory in Gotzis and then went on to finish third at the world championships in Moscow.
Warner, whose national record is 8695 points from Beijing last August, could potentially threaten the Commonwealth record of 8847 set by Great Britain&rsquo;s Daley Thompson, when the latter won at the 1984 Olympics, if he can maintain his recent good form. He recently ran a wind-assisted 100m in 10.09, the 400m in a personal best of 46.54 and the 110m hurdles in 13.42.
South Africa&rsquo;s Willem Coertzen will be looking to improve his third place achieved last year when he broke the African record with 8398 points while Belgium&rsquo;s Hans Van Alphen will return to Gotzis four years after his outstanding win with his personal best of 8519.
Now 34, the Belgian went on to finish fourth at the London 2012 Olympic Games but has had to battle with injury problems since then.
Reigning world junior champion Jiri Sykora, from Czech Republic, will make his second appearance in Gotzis while others in the decathlon field include Cuba&rsquo;s 2005 world youth octathlon champion Yordani Garcia, France&rsquo;s 2014 European sillver medallist Kevin Mayer and the Netherlands&rsquo; 2015 European under 23 champion Pieter Braun.
Theisen Eaton returns to Gotzis after winning the IAAF World Indoor Championships Portland 2016 pentathlon title in March.
She has won in Gotzis in 2013 and 2015. Last year, the Canadian broke her own national record heptathlete with a score of 6808 points here and went on to win her second consecutive world championships silver medal.
<h3>German challenge</h3>
Theisen-Eaton will renew her rivallry with Germany&rsquo;s Carolin Schafer, 2008 world junior and 2009 European junior champion, who finished second with a personal best with 6547 last year.
Claudia Rath, who finished second in the 2015 IAAF Combined Events Challenge will compete for the no less than the seventh time in the Mosle Stadium. The German finished fourth at the 2013 world championships when she set her current personal best of 6462 points.
Two established stars of the German multi-events scene, Lilli Schwarzkopf and Jennifer Oeser, will also fight for a place on the plane to Rio.
Schwarzkopf won the 2012 Olympic silver medal with 6649 points but ruptured her Achilles tendon in Talence one month later. She made a remarkable comeback when she finished fifth at the 2014 European Championships.
Oeser won the world championships silver medal on home soil in Berlin in 2009 and took the bronze two years later in Daegu.
She came back last year from maternity leave and finished 10th in Beijing.
Laura Ikauniece-Admidina, from Latvia, should also be in contention for a place in the top three after wining the world championships bronze medal last summer with a personal best of 6516 points.
<h3>Can KJT win again?</h3>
Great Britain&rsquo;s Katarina Johnson-Thompson will return to the venue where she won her first big meeting in 2014 setting her personal best of 6682 points. She went on to win the 2015 European indoor pentathlon title with 5000 points, the second best score in history.
Great Britain will be also represented by 18-year-old reigning world junior heptathlon champion Morgan Lake.
The traditionally strong Dutch contingent will feature Nadine Visser and Anouk Vetter.
Visser, a training partner of Dafne Schippers, set her heptathlon best of 6487 points when she finished fifth in Gotzis last year, one place ahead of Vetter, who also set a career best with 6458.
Belgium&rsquo;s 2013 European junior champion Nafissitou Thiam will be looking to improve on her fifth place at the 2014 Hypo Meeting when she set a national record with 6508.
Ukraine&rsquo;s 2013 world champion Hanna Kasyanova will return to Gotzis, where she finished second in 2009, hoping to post a good score after several years of injury problems.
The star-studded field also features France&rsquo;s two-time European champion Antoinette Nana Djimou, USA&rsquo;s indoor pentathlon record holder Sharon Day Monroe as well as Lithuania&rsquo;s 2004 Olympic silver medallist and 2012 world Indoor championships pentathlon bronze medallist Austra Skujte and this year&rsquo;s Florence Multistars winner Vanessa Spinola, from Brazil
Diego Sampaolo for the IAAF

Last year’s winners, Germany’s Kai Kazmirek and Canada’s Brianne Theisen-Eaton, will return to the famous Mosle Stadium to defend their titles at the Hypo Meeting in Gotzis, part of the IAAF Combined Events Challenge, on Saturday and Sunday (28-29).

Kazmirek and Theisen-Eaton out to defend their titles in Gotzis

It was never going to be easy &ndash; world records never are &ndash; but Ashton Eaton had decided that three years and two months was long enough for his mark of 9039 to stand.A 5.20m clearance in the pole vault meant that the world record was going to be difficult, but a 63.63m throw in the javelin made his task slightly easier.A clocking of 4:18.25 in the final event, the 1500m, was needed for the record, but that was a time he had only once before achieved.The 27-year-old was outside the required pace for the first 400m, but he moved closer to the front after seeing the first-lap split of 1:09.34 from Germany&rsquo;s Michael Schrader.Algeria&rsquo;s Larbi Bourrada then took up the lead and passed 800m in 2:21.56 with Eaton close behind. But there was still ground to make up.As he approached the final lap, Eaton appeared to have already given it all he had. He needed a 63-second last lap to achieve his target, so &ndash; from somewhere &ndash; he found an extra gear.With Bourrada away and clear, Eaton charged down the home straight and crossed the line in 4:17.52, some 0.73 quicker than the time he needed. The world record* now stands at 9045, six points more than his previous mark, and thanks to the support of IAAF partner TDK, earned him a world record bonus of US $100,000.The US all-rounder won his second successive world title in the decathlon and has now won six consecutive global titles, indoors and outdoors, since 2012.Eaton also became the first athlete since Jurgen Hingsen in the 1980s to set two successive world records in the decathlon. And he is the first decathlete to set a world record at the IAAF World Championships.Canada&rsquo;s Damian Warner just missed the 8700-point barrier, but ended his series with a 4:31.51 clocking in the 1500m to bring his score to 8695, improving the Canadian record for the second time in just five weeks. It was also the second successive World Championships medal for the 25-year-old, who finished third in Moscow in 2013.As anticipated, Germany&rsquo;s Rico Freimuth&rsquo;s advantage over the other medal contenders was too much and the 27-year-old held on to bronze, taking his first major medal with a 8561 PB after running 4:37.05 in the 1500m.Russia&rsquo;s Ilya Shkurenev ran an inspired 1500m in 4:24.98, but the gap to Freimuth was too big and he placed fourth with a PB of 8538.Bourrada, the 1500m winner in 4:16.61, was fifth with an African record of 8461 in his first decathlon of the season.Germany&rsquo;s Kai Kazmirek, the Gotzis winner earlier this season, was sixth with 8448. Schrader, the 2013 silver medallist, was seventh with 8418.Grenada&rsquo;s Kurt Felix set a national record of 8302 in eighth place. For the first time in World Championships history, seven men scored in excess of 8400 points.Mirko Jalava for the IAAF*Subject to the usual ratification procedures

It was never going to be easy – world records never are – but Ashton Eaton had decided that three years and two months was long enough for his mark of 9039 to stand.

Report: men’s decathlon 1500m – IAAF World Championships, Beijing 2015

Germany&rsquo;s Michael Schrader and the Netherlands' Anouk Vetter lead at the end of the first day of the Erdgas Mehrkampf-Meeting in Ratingen, an IAAF Combined Events Challenge meeting, on Saturday (27).Schrader, the world silver medallist and a local hero in Ratingen as he hails from nearby Duisburg, put together a total of 4330 to lead the decathlon by exactly 100 points from African record-holder Willem Coertzen of South Africa.Schrader&rsquo;s compatriot and 2014 Ratingen winner Rico Freimuth was the fastest man over 100m with 10.63 but Schrader was not far behind with 10.78 for second place in the quickest heat of the opening event.He then took the overall lead with a do-or-die last effort of 7.81m in the long jump, following two fouls.&ldquo;I thought to myself, &lsquo;I&rsquo;ll give it everything&rsquo;. Having a safe jump from a metre behind the board is just not me,&rdquo; said Schrader after the end of Saturday&rsquo;s session.The feat saw Schrader move into first place after two events with 1922 points, 142 more than Freimuth.The latter ate into his rival's lead a little after the shot put, although Schrader&rsquo;s 14.80m was just eight centimetres off his recent personal best and moved his tally along to 2699 points, with Freimuth putting a personal best of 15.62m to reduce the deficit to 91 points.The high jump is not one of Schrader&rsquo;s better events but he cleared 1.92m which was enough to maintain his lead as Gotzis winner Kai Kazmirek went over 2.07m and moved up to second place. Freimuth under-performed and only cleared 1.86m to slip down to fourth.Schrader finished off the day with a 48.19 400m, the fastest of the 13 remaining competitors, to consolidate his lead as Coertzen moved up to second place after a run of 48.50 to retain his ambition of improving on his recent African record of 8398 set in Gotzis just four weeks ago.Kazmirek pulled out shortly after the start of his 400m race having felt a groin twinge.&ldquo;I had hoped for a couple of personal bests on Saturday but it&rsquo;s still a really good score,&rdquo; said Schrader, who is 100 points shy of where he was after the first day at the IAAF World Championships in Moscow, when he set his personal best of 8670.<h3>Vetter has personal best in view</h3>Cindy Roleder, a regular German 100m hurdles international, was unsurprisingly the fastest in the opening event of the heptathlon with 13.05, Vetter coming home third in 13.55.But Carolin Schafer moved into pole position after the high jump when she equalled her personal best of 1.84m.Vetter&rsquo;s strength showed in the shot put, which she won with a personal best of 15.50m, although Schafer still led after three events following her 13.39m in the shot put.Two-time world heptathlon medallist Jennifer Oeser was second, just eight points behind, and Vetter had moved up to third.However, everything changed after the 200m as Vetter won her heat in 24.12, the second-best time of the day behind Roleder&rsquo;s 23.68 win in the supposedly the faster heat.Vetter&rsquo;s first-day total of 3785 saw her finish Saturday 57 points ahead of Oeser, with Roleder third on 3667 points. The Dutch athlete was also only 88 points behind her first-day score in Gotzis last month when she went on to finish sixth in a personal best of 6458.Schafer decided not to start the 200m as a precaution in order to conserve her energy for the IAAF World Championships in August. &ldquo;Everyone has seen that I am in the best shape of my life,&rdquo; said Schafer, who finished second in Gotzis with a personal best of 6547.Phil Minshull for the IAAF

Germany’s Michael Schrader and the Netherlands' Anouk Vetter lead at the end of the first day of the Erdgas Mehrkampf-Meeting in Ratingen, an IAAF Combined Events Challenge meeting, on Saturday (27).

Schrader and Vetter lead at the end of the first day in Ratingen

Germany&rsquo;s leading decathletes and heptathletes will be hoping to impress on home soil at the Erdgas Mehrkampf-Meeting in Ratingen, an IAAF Combined Events Challenge meeting, on Saturday and Sunday (27-28).The 2013 and 2014 decathlon winners Pascal Behrenbruch and Rico Freimuth return, the latter having also won the 2014 IAAF Combined Events Challenge. But Freimuth finished fourth in Gotzis at the end of May and the three men who finished in front of him are also in the Ratingen field.Kai Kazmirek, the 2013 European under-23 champion, set what was then a world-leading tally of 8462 when winning in the Austrian town and was just nine points away from his personal best.His German compatriot Michael Schrader, the world silver medallist, put together a score of 8415 for second place while South Africa&rsquo;s Willem Coertzen produced an African record of 8398 but still had to settle for third place.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m in as good shape as I was in Gotzis, maybe even a little better,&rdquo; said Schrader, who hails from nearby Duisburg, on Thursday.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m looking for good performances again in the pole vault and 400m, I want to be running in the 47s again,&rdquo; he added, reflecting on the fact that he has a best of 47.66 in this discipline and ran 48.21 in Gotzis.&ldquo;The one event where there is room for improvement over Gotzis is the discus,&rdquo; he added, well aware that there he was more than five metres down on his recent personal best of 47.19m.&ldquo;I basically never throw less than 45 metres in training so it was disappointing to only just throw over 42 metres in Gotzis.&rdquo;<h3>Coertzen looking for another continental record</h3>Coertzen made no secret on Thursday of the fact he wants to become the first African decathlete to go over 8400 points. &ldquo;And the German athletes should help push me,&rdquo; said the man who only started in the sport at the age of 24, after first trying his hand at cricket and rugby.Belgium&rsquo;s Hans van Alphen struggled in Gotzis and finished down in 15th but the Belgian record-holder with 8519 from 2012, the year he won the IAAF Combined Events Challenge, will be looking to do much better in Ratingen and get back over 8000 points for the first time since his halcyon summer three years ago.There will also be a lot of interest in the performance of Serbia&rsquo;s talented two-time European under-23 medallist Mihail Dudas, who injured himself on the first day of the 2014 Gotzis meeting and didn&rsquo;t compete again last year.Dudas also pulled out of the Multistars meeting last month in the Italian city of Florence after just two events, and Ratingen offers him another chance to prove his fitness.<h3>More of the same will satisfy Schwarzkopf</h3>The heptathlon also has a strong contingent of Germans, including 
three-time winners Jennifer Oeser and Lilli Schwarzkopf, the latter 
taking the title last year after wins in 2007 and 2008.Schwarzkopf had to cancel her planned outing at Gotzis last month due to an ill-timed bout of bronchitis and so has a point to prove in Ratingen."I'm hoping for a similarly good performance as last year," said the Olympic silver medallist, who won in 2014 with 6426.Oeser won in Ulm last month with 6145 but the two-time World Championships medallist is still getting back to her best form after becoming a mother last year.Both women will have to look out for the in-form Carolin Schaefer, who finished second in Gotzis with a personal best of 6547, a score better than anyone has achieved in Ratingen since the first edition in 1997 when Sabine Braun set the meeting record of 6787.Claudia Rath is another German heptathlete who showed good form in Gotzis, the 2013 IAAF World Championships fourth-place finisher putting together the second-best total of her career with 6458 to finish seventh.One place in front of Rath in Gotzis and also competing in Ratingen is arguably the best of the overseas athletes, the Netherlands' Anouk Vetter, the Dutchwoman getting no fewer than four individual personal best marks en route to an overall personal best total of 6458.Phil Minshull for the IAAF

Germany’s leading decathletes and heptathletes will be hoping to impress on home soil at the Erdgas Mehrkampf-Meeting in Ratingen, an IAAF Combined Events Challenge meeting, on Saturday and Sunday (27-28).

Germany's top combined-events exponents look to impress in Ratingen

In a repeat of the situation 12 months ago, Germany&rsquo;s Kai Kazmirek and Canada&rsquo;s Brianne Theisen-Eaton are the overnight leaders after the first day of the Hypo-Meeting in Gotzis, the third leg of the 2015 IAAF Combined Events Challenge, on Saturday (30).Sadly, world champion and world record-holder Ashton Eaton was a late withdrawal due to a back injury sustained during a shot put training session on Thursday.Kazmirek, sixth at last year&rsquo;s European Championships, is the decathlon leader after five events with 4409 points, just ahead of US indoor heptathlon champion Jeremy Taiwo, who has 4388 points, with Germany&rsquo;s Rico Freimuth third with 4331. Canada&rsquo;s Damian Warner, the 2013 Gotzis champion and 2014 Commonwealth champion, flew to 10.37 in the opening 100m event, finishing ahead of Freimuth who ran 10.53. Warner kept his lead with 1973 points after leaping 7.63m in the long jump, the second-best jump of the day and just three centimetres behind event winner Michael Schrader, who reached 7.66m.Freimuth was still second in the overall ranking after two events, 60 points behind Warner with 1913, while 2009 Gotzis winner Schrader was third after two events with 1908. But Warner&rsquo;s dream to clinch his second Gotzis title ended after had three fouls in the shot put.Freimuth set a personal best with 15.47m to take the overall lead with 2732 points as Schrader put 14.31m to move up to second place with 2655 points.Taiwo, lying eighth after the shot put, is a good high jumper and cleared 2.15m to take over the lead after four events. The US athlete was 27 points ahead of Kazmirek, who jumped 2.08m, while Freimuth dropped to third after clearing a more modest 1.91m.<h3>Fast 400m puts Kazmirek into the lead</h3>However, Kazmirek clocked the fastest time in the 400m with 47.30 to overtake Taiwo after five events by just 21 points. Taiwo, who ran 48.29, has an advantage of 57 points over Freimuth, who maintained third place with a run of 48.70. Schrader, competing in his first decathlon since his World Championships silver medal in Moscow two years ago, is fourth with 4303. &ldquo;It was a solid day with no ups and downs," said Kazmirek. "I am used to ending the first day in the lead. Tomorrow, I will try to keep my leading position."World silver medallist Theisen-Eaton, who also won in Gotzis two years ago, leads the heptathlon with 4031 points ahead of European 100m and 200m champion Dafne Schippers, who finished one place behind her Canadian rival in Moscow, with the Dutchwoman in second place with 3995 points. Olympic champion Jessica Ennis-Hill is third after four events with 3928 points. Germany&rsquo;s Cindy Roleder, the European 100m hurdles bronze medallist, won in her favourite event and was the only woman to run faster than 13 seconds, running 12.99. The Netherlands&rsquo; world junior 100m hurdles and heptathlon bronze medallist Nadine Visser was just 0.05 in arrears with Brianne Theisen Eaton third in the final heat of five, which brought together the fastest hurdlers, in 13.05.Ennis-Hill clocked 13.24 in her first heptathlon competition since the 2012 Olympics following injury and maternity leave. <h3>Theisen-Eaton high jump PB</h3>The high jump proved to be a tense affair at times.Theisen Eaton set a personal best when clearing 1.89m on her first attempt before missing three times at 1.92m and took the overall lead with 2210 points. Ennis-Hill needed two attempts to clear 1.71m but she then jumped 1.80m, 1.83m and 1.86m at the first time of asking before failing three times at 1.89m to take second place overall. Schippers survived a big scare when she needed three attempts to clear her opening height of 1.68m but eventually went over 1.77m.Belgium&rsquo;s Nafi Thiam, the European bronze medallist and European junior champion, was the best high jumper and cleared 1.92m to move up to third place overall. Thiam put a solid 14.69m to improve her overall standing to second place, just six points behind Theisen-Eaton, but Ennis-Hill dropped to third place overall after putting 13.95m. Schippers improved her personal best to 14.66m but was still lying down in eighth place overall. That all changed after the 200m when she uncorked a 22.39 run, just missing her own meeting record set last year by 0.04. Theisen Eaton ended a solid day with a personal best of 23.24 while Ennis-Hill clocked 23.96 to stay in third place after four events.&ldquo;I think it's ironic because I felt like my hurdles would improve a bit," said Ennis-Hill. "I felt more confident about that and was really worried about the high jump because I have just have not high-jumped.&ldquo;I was disappointed with my hurdles; (I'm) just lacking speed because I haven't done the work. But I was really, really pleased with the high jump because I've probably done just four high jump sessions but I felt like I had that ping again and it felt really nice."Diego Sampaolo for the IAAF

In a repeat of the situation 12 months ago, Germany’s Kai Kazmirek and Canada’s Brianne Theisen-Eaton are the overnight leaders after the first day of the Hypo-Meeting in Gotzis, the third leg of the 2015 IAAF Combined Events Challenge, on Saturday (30).

Kazmirek and Theisen-Eaton again lead at the end of day one in Gotzis

Having missed the past two full seasons due to injury and childbirth, Germany&rsquo;s two-time World Championships medallist Jennifer Oeser intends to compete at the Erdgas Mehrkampf-Meeting in Ratingen on 27-28 June, the mid-way stop of the IAAF Combined Events Challenge.With World Championships team spots at stake, the event has naturally attracted Germany&rsquo;s top combined events athletes. And there are many of them.Oeser, who won world silver in 2009 and world bronze in 2011, won in Ratingen three times in a row between 2009 and 2011. Her score of 6663 in 2011 is the second-highest mark in the meeting&rsquo;s history and is just 20 points shy of her lifetime best.One athlete who knows what it&rsquo;s like to make a comeback is Lilli Schwarzkopf. The Olympic silver medallist was forced to miss the 2013 season through injury, but returned last year to record her third career win in Ratingen, scoring a season&rsquo;s best of 6426.Joining them are the two athletes who have finished just outside the medals at the past two major championships: Claudia Rath and Carolin Schaefer.Rath missed a medal at the IAAF World Championships by just 15 points and has finished second in Ratingen for the past two years. Schaefer, winner of the 2008 world junior title, enjoyed a breakthrough season in 2014. She produced the three best scores of her life, culminating in a PB of 6395 to finish fourth at the European Championships and ending the year in second place in the IAAF Combined Events Challenge.Also in the field are two-time Ratingen winner Julia Maechtig and European under-23 silver medallist Kira Biesenbach.The decathlon is just as loaded with talent with four former Ratingen winners set to compete.Last year&rsquo;s winner Rico Freimuth will return to defend his title. He will take on 2013 Ratingen winner and 2012 European champion Pascal Behrenbruch, 2012 Ratingen winner and 2008 world junior champion Jan Felix Knobel, and European indoor silver medallist Arthur Abele, winner in Ratingen back in 2007 when he was 20 years old.World silver medallist Michael Schrader will return to Ratingen for the first time since 2008. The 27-year-old was forced to sit out 2014 due to injury.Kai Kazmirek, the European under-23 champion, is also in the field, completing what is possibly one of the strongest domestic decathlon fields to descend on Ratingen.Jon Mulkeen for the IAAF

Having missed the past two full seasons due to injury and childbirth, Germany’s two-time World Championships medallist Jennifer Oeser intends to compete at the Erdgas Mehrkampf-Meeting in Ratingen on 27-28 June, the mid-way stop of the IAAF Combined Events Challenge.

Oeser set to return to Ratingen

In the wake of the announcement that world record-holder Ashton Eaton and two-time world champion Trey Hardee will duel at the famous Hypo-Meeting in the Austrian town of Gotzis, the organisers have announced that the cream of Germany&rsquo;s combined events exponents will also be on display at the IAAF Combined Events Challenge meeting on 30-31 May.Taking on the US pair in the decathlon will be world silver medallist Michael Schrader (personal best: 8670), Arthur Abele (8477), European under-23 champion Kai Kazmirek (8471), Rico Freimuth (8382) and Matthias Prey (8215).In the heptathlon, Germany will be represented by Olympic silver medallist Lilli Schwarzkopf (personal best: 6649), World Championships fourth-place finisher Claudia Rath (6462), former world and European junior champion Carolin Schafer (6395), Kira Biesenbach (6185) and Cindy Roleder (5728).Organisers for the IAAF

In the wake of the announcement that world record-holder Ashton Eaton and two-time world champion Trey Hardee will duel at the famous Hypo-Meeting in the Austrian town of Gotzis, the organisers have announced that the cream of Germany’s combined events exponents will also be on display at the IAAF Combined Events Challenge meeting on 30-31 May.

Germany's top combined events exponents on their way to Gotzis

With the series having concluded at the recent Asian Games, Germany&rsquo;s Rico Freimuth and Nadine Broersen of the Netherlands ended the year as the overall winners of the IAAF Combined Events Challenge.Both athletes made a bit of history too as Freimuth became the first German man to win the men&rsquo;s Combined Events Challenge, while Broersen became the first Dutch winner of the series.Freimuth may have missed out on a medal at the European Championships, but his season-long consistency paid off in the Combined Events Challenge as he notched up three scores in excess of 8300 points.He opened the season with a third-place finish in Gotzis with 8317, then recorded a season&rsquo;s best of 8356 when winning in Ratingen. Two months later he finished seventh at the European Championships with a score of 8308, bringing his 2014 points total to 24,981.That proved to be more than enough to win as Eelco Sintnicolaas was 186 points behind in second place. The Dutchman won in Florence with 8161 and then at the European Cup Combined Events with 8156 before setting a season&rsquo;s best of 8478 at the European Championships.A late-season score of 7945 in Talence propelled Yordani Garcia into third place overall. Earlier in the season the Cuban had scored 8299 in Gotzis and 8179 to win the Pan-American Combined Events Cup.Ukraine&rsquo;s Oleksiy Kasyanov was just 46 points behind in fourth place overall, while Ashley Bryant recorded the highest ever finish by a British man in the Combined Events Challenge by placing fifth.In winning the women&rsquo;s Combined Events Challenge, Broersen earned her second big victory of 2014, having won the world indoor title earlier in the year.That performance didn&rsquo;t count towards the standings in the challenge, but it didn&rsquo;t matter as she produced three big heptathlon scores throughout the season to end the series with a 409-point lead.A fourth-place finish in Gotzis with 6536 was followed by a PB of 6539 to win the European Cup Combined Events. She then took silver at the European Championships with 6498.Talence winner Carolin Schafer was also extremely consistent with just 12 points separating her three heptathlon performances in 2014. The German scored 6386 in Gotzis, 6395 at the European Championships and then 6383 in Talence to finish second in the series.Compatriot Lilli Schwarzkopf made a strong return from long-term injury to finish third in the challenge. The Olympic silver medallist&rsquo;s tally was boosted was a win in Ratingen with 6426.Kladno winner Eliska Klucinova finished fourth overall, more than 300 points ahead of Belarusian Yana Maksimava.To be eligible in the final rankings, athletes must score points in at least three competitions within the series. It means that world leaders Andrei Krauchanka and Katarina Johnson-Thompson, who competed in just one combined events competition each, didn&rsquo;t figure in the final standings. The same applies for Gotzis winner Trey Hardee and Commonwealth champion Brianne Theisen-Eaton.IAAF

With the series having concluded at the recent Asian Games, Germany’s Rico Freimuth and Nadine Broersen of the Netherlands ended the year as the overall winners of the IAAF Combined Events Challenge.

Freimuth and Broersen confirmed winners of the 2014 IAAF Combined Events Challenge

Rico Freimuth and Lilli Schwarzkopf came out top at the IAAF Combined Events Challenge meeting in Ratingen with 8356 and 6426 points respectively on Sunday (29).The weather started where it left off yesterday – cold and wet – but the competitors bravely battled on in their quest to qualify for the European Championships in Zurich in August, and were rewarded with blue skies towards the end of the day.Overnight leader Freimuth opened his second day on a high with a 110m hurdles personal best of 13.78. It was a close race between him and fellow Zurich ticket-chaser Arthur Abele who pushed Freimuth right up to the line in 13.82 to take second place in the overall standings, 23 points from Kevin Mayer. The Frenchman narrowly missed his personal best by seven hundredths of a second in 14.28.In the discus, Freimuth then followed with another personal best, coming close to the 50-metre line with a strong first-round throw of 49.61m, extending his lead to 239 points. Abele cemented his second place with 43.89m, while Mayer had to suffice with 38.41m, trailing the leader by 374 points.Rain makes way for more top performancesWith the officials doing their best to dry the pole vault runway from the continuous rain, the weather gods eventually decided to do the competitors a favour and allowed the sun to shine through the continuously present clouds.In the pole vault it was all about Frenchman Mayer as he made up for his mediocre discus with a superb 5.20m clearance, moving him back to second, 221 points behind Freimuth. European champion Pascal Behrenbruch bowed out at 4.90m, sitting 336 points behind the leader, while competition leader Freimuth cleared 4.70m.“The rain has finished now, but it was difficult with the wind,” explained Mayer after his great vault. “I’m very tired now, but decathletes are always tired after the pole vault [laughs]. We’ve only got two more events left, so we’re nearly there.”Close battle for remaining Zurich ticket between Abele and BehrenbruchWith Kai Kazmirek’s 8471 points from Gotzis giving him a guaranteed spot on the German team for Zurich and Freimuth in the lead in Ratingen, it was a close battle for the remaining spot between Abele and Behrenbruch.Both strong in the javelin, Abele’s second-round throw of 66.29m put pressure on Behrenbruch, who landed the javelin at 64.83m. The two were separated by merely 31 points going into the final event, with Abele known as a strong 1500m runner and the meeting record-holder.Mayer celebrated 64.01m, improving his season’s best by one centimetre, while Freimuth was more than happy with 60.08m and still a comfortable 162-point lead.Belgium’s Frederic Xhonneux stormed to a 1500m start-to-finish win in 4:20.51, with Mayer running a courageous race moving him within 33 points of overall winner Freimuth, who finished with 8356 points, ranking him second in Europe this year behind Kazmirek.With Abele finishing 10 seconds ahead of Behrenbruch’s 4:51.30, the reigning European champion won’t be able to defend his title, as Abele beat him by 84 points overall to secure his spot on the team for Zurich.“I am incredibly relieved,” said Abele. “Last year I managed to come back after years of injuries, but to qualify for the Europeans here in Ratingen was a massive confidence boost.“It was very close with Pascal in the end, but I knew the last two events were mine. The overall points aren’t as great as I’d hoped, but hopefully that can be changed in Zurich.”Moral support for Rath works wondersAfter overnight leader Carolin Schafer pulled out of the heptathlon having already booked her ticket for the European Championships with 6386 points in Gotzis, it was a battle between Germany and Poland for the Ratingen victory.Schafer did, however, stay to watch training partner Claudia Rath compete in the long jump after the German ended up with three fouls in Gotzis. “It’s a shame I had to pull out,” says Schafer about her decision from last night. “But I don’t want to risk anything ahead of Zurich.“I’m just staying for the long jump for Claudia now, just to make sure she gets a definite ‘yes’ for Zurich.”Her moral support seemed to work wonders as Rath recorded a strong series of jumps with a leading 6.41m in the pouring rain, taking the overall lead by 50 points. Olympic silver medallist Lilli Schwarzkopf had every reason to celebrate with another season’s best of 6.20m leaving her 10 points ahead of Poland’s Karolina Tyminska.In the javelin – and supported by the deafening sounds of her fan club’s bass drums – Schwarzkopf threw a strong 51.82m to take the overall lead, while Ida Marcussen of Norway had a season’s best third-round throw of 46.82m.With the javelin being her weakest event, Rath was pleased to throw 41.39m, but had to watch Schwarzkopf take the overall lead by 165 points going into the final event, the 800m.Schwarzkopf and Rath celebrate German doubleMarcussen set a good pace for the first lap of the race, leading the field through 400m in 1:03.35, but it was Tyminska who took over on the second lap, taking the win in 2:08.81, while Rath followed closely in 2:09.20.In the end it was Schwarzkopf who celebrated a victory and successful comeback from injury. Her final result of 6426 now puts her on eighth on the 2014 world season list, while Rath, who finished fourth at the World Championships last year, was relieved to have secured her ticket for Zurich with 6314 points and a second place.“In the heptathlon the European Championships are almost like a small World Championships,” said Rath. “But our coach is normally quite good at having us peak at major events and my mum always says, ‘just do your best, no more, no less’ and that’s what I’m planning on doing in Zurich.”Equally happy as Rath were Tyminska, Marcussen and Sweden’s Jessica Samuelsson who all secured their qualification for the European Championships.Michelle Sammet for the IAAF

Rico Freimuth and Lilli Schwarzkopf came out top at the IAAF Combined Events Challenge meeting in Ratingen with 8356 and 6426 points respectively on Sunday (29).