Puerto Rico’s Ayden Owens-Delerme and USA’s Taliyah Brooks lead after the first day of action at Decastar, but it’s all to play for at the World Athletics Combined Events Tour Gold meeting in Talence.
Owens-Delerme amassed 4469 points on Saturday (5) to hold an overnight lead of 117 points over Kendrick Thompson of The Bahamas in the men’s decathlon. But several athletes in the field, including 2019 world champion Niklas Kaul and European champion Johannes Erm, have the potential to produce big scores on day two, so nothing is guaranteed.
The situation is similar in the women’s heptathlon; Brooks – a strong day-one performer – has a 59-point lead with her current score of 3850. But just 84 points separate the next six athletes in the standings.
Owens-Delerme took an early lead in the decathlon with a 10.48 run in the 100m, but Thompson moved into the lead after the long jump, leaping 7.70m to Owens-Delerme’s 7.44m.
The Puerto Rican regained pole position thanks to a 16.13m heave in the shot put, but again it was short-lived as France’s Teo Bastien jumped to the top of the standings after clearing 2.06m in the high jump.
Owens-Delerme ended his day with a meeting record of 46.43 in the 400m to finish the day with a leading tally of 4469. Thompson covered a lap of the track in 48.56 to move into second place. Erm’s 48.13 was one of the fastest of the day and the Estonian currently sits in fourth behind Bastien.
Kaul ended the day in seventh overall, but is only marginally behind his pace from Götzis, where he went on to score 8575, so the German is certainly one to watch on Sunday.
The women’s heptathlon got off to a strong start with Michelle Atherley equalling the meeting record of 12.88 in the 100m hurdles. US compatriot Brooks was marginally behind in 12.91 with defending champion Martha Araujo also breaking 13 seconds (12.97).
World U20 champion Jana Koscak moved up the standings after the high jump with her 1.82m leap being the best of the day, but a 1.79m clearance from Brooks kept the world indoor bronze medallist in the lead. Araujo and Atherley were third and fourth overall, within touching distance of Koscak.
Koscak took a brief lead after the shot put, thanks to the Croatian’s throw of 13.91m. Brooks threw 13.39m and held on to second place overall, ahead of Araujo (13.55m). 2019 world bronze medallist Verena Mayr (14.70m) and Germany’s Vanessa Grimm (15.03m) were among the leading performers in the shot put and they moved into fourth and fifth overall.
Brooks regained her lead in the final discipline of the day, the 200m, running a solid 23.87 to bring her leading tally to 3850. Araujo ended with 24.11, giving her a score of 3791 – slightly ahead of her pace from Götzis, where she set her recent PB. Koscak’s 24.94 kept her in contention, while Lithuania’s Beatrice Juskeviciute (23.64) and Atherley (23.66) made up some ground in the 200m.
Heading into day two, Brooks may well be able to hold her own in the long jump, but the javelin could be the turning point as Araujo appears to have the advantage there. Atherley, meanwhile, is capable of making up ground in the 800m.