If being a high performance athlete is all about self-improvement then world heptathlon bronze medallist Verena Preiner unequivocally ticks every box.

With most of the major athletics competitions and series of 2019 having reached their conclusion, we look back at the key moments of the year in each area of the sport.

Damian Warner of Canada and Austrian Verena Preiner, the bronze medallists at the IAAF World Athletics Championships Doha 2019 in the decathlon and heptathlon, respectively, topped the end-of-season standings in the 2019 IAAF Combined Events Challenge.

Kai Kazmirek charged into day two of the IAAF Combined Events Challenge meeting in Ratingen the same way he left day one: at full speed, towards a second World Championships standard and onwards to an Olympic standard. And in the heptathlon, Verena Preiner led from start to finish to claim Ivona Dadic’s Austrian record.

In the sunshine of the IAAF Combined Events Challenge in Ratingen, German’s Kai Kazmirek was in superb form, less than 100 points behind his score from Rio at the end of day one and entertaining his home crowd with a lifetime best long jump, and a new meeting record in the 400m. He was pushed all the way by France’s Basile Rolnin, who set personal bests in four of his events. As did Verena Preiner, who at the end of the first day leads her compatriot Ivona Dadic in the heptathlon.  

Despite starting day two in second place, Austria’s Verena Preiner and Norway’s Martin Roe ultimately emerged victorious at the IAAF Combined Events Challenge meeting in Arona on Sunday (9).

High hurdler Balasz Baji of Hungary and Czech long jumper Radek Juska produced the top performances over the final two days (27-28) of competition at the World University Games in Taipei City, Chinese Taipei.