Kevin Mayer in the heptathlon shot put at the IAAF World Indoor Championships Birmingham 2018 (© AFP / Getty Images)
Kevin Mayer maintained his European record pace in the third discipline of the heptathlon, topping the shot put standings with 15.67m.
As was the case with the long jump, he saved his best effort for the final round. He had opened with a foul and then registered a safe 14.49m in round two. His 15.67m is the best mark he has achieved within a heptathlon, one centimetre better than the throw he managed en route to his European indoor record last year.
The world decathlon champion now leads by 45 points from Damian Warner, but the Canadian kept up the pressure on the Frenchman by throwing an outright PB of 14.90m. It added 16 centimetres to the PB he set outdoors in 2016 and is more than a metre farther than his previous indoor best.
Behind the top two, Estonia’s Maicel Uibo and Germany’s world bronze medallist Kai Kazmirek continued their two-way battle for bronze. Kazmirek managed an indoor PB of 14.55m while Uibo’s 14.30m similarly keeps him on course for a final score in excess of 6100 points.
Lindon Victor produced the second-best mark of the day with 15.54m, but following his disaster in the long jump, the Grenadian won’t be in medal contention.
Eelco Sintnicolaas of the Netherlands and Ruben Gado of France managed just 14.09m and 13.61m respectively, but it was enough to keep both of them on pace for a 6000-point score.
Jon Mulkeen for the IAAF
