Estonia’s Johannes Erm and Colombia’s Martha Araujo, winners of Decastar last year, will be up against quality opposition when they defend their titles at the World Athletics Combined Events Tour Gold meeting in Talence this weekend (5-6).
Erm won the decathlon in Talence last year with 8589, capping a memorable season that also included European gold, with a PB of 8764, and a sixth-place finish at the Olympic Games. He has carried that momentum through to 2025, earning world indoor silver with a national heptathlon record of 6437.
The 27-year-old has contested just one outdoor competition so far this year, a three-discipline ‘triathlon’ at the Bislett Games in Oslo, where he clocked 14.54 in the 110m hurdles, long jumped 7.09m and threw 56.29m in the javelin.
He’ll be up against several men who have already put down a strong decathlon marker this season.
Niklas Kaul is one of those. The German finished equal third in Götzis five weeks ago with 8575, the second-best score of his career behind the 8691 PB he set when winning the 2019 world title.
Puerto Rico’s Ayden Owens-Delerme finished a few positions behind Kaul in Götzis, placing seventh with a season’s best of 8486. The 25-year-old, whose PB of 8732 was set last year, will be chasing the World Championships qualifying standard of 8550 with a view to making it to Tokyo in September and improving on the fourth-place finish he achieved at the 2022 World Championships.
Karel Tilga also knows what it’s like to finish just outside of the medals at a World Championships; the Estonian placed fourth in Budapest two years ago, setting a PB of 8681. More recently he placed ninth in Götzis with a season’s best of 8405, making him the top performing Estonian this year.
Several others in the field – including Germany’s Tim Nowak, Belgium’s Jente Hauttekeete and Estonian duo Rasmus Roosleht and Niels Pittomvils – will be chasing either the World Championships qualifying standard or world ranking points.
The same is true of most of the contender in the women’s heptathlon.
Defending Decastar champion Araujo has enjoyed a strong season so far, winning the South American title with 6396 and then finishing third in Götzis with 6475 – a 46-point improvement on the continental record she set in Talence last year.
The 29-year-old, who finished seventh at the Olympics last year, is now looking for a further 25-point improvement so that she can secure the World Championships qualifying standard.
She’ll be pushed all the way by US duo Michelle Atherley and Taliyah Brooks, both of whom should contend for victory this weekend.
Atherley, the overall winner of the World Athletics Combined Events Tour last year, recently finished fourth in Götzis with 6425, just 40 points shy of her PB. After finishing third in Talence last year, she’s targeting a higher place on the podium this time.
Brooks, who represented the USA at the 2023 World Championships and 2024 Olympics, took world indoor bronze earlier this year. Having posted some strong individual marks outdoors, she’ll be keen to improve on her PB of 6408 in what will be her first heptathlon of 2025.
Austria’s also Verena Mayr returns to Talence. The 30-year-old has the best PB of the field (6591), though that was set back in 2019, the year in which she earned world bronze.
Germany’s Vanessa Grimm, who placed fourth at this year’s World Indoor Championships, and world U20 champion Jana Koscak of the Czech Republic are among the other podium contenders.
Leading entries
Women’s heptathlon
Verena Mayr (AUT) 6591
Martha Araujo (COL) 6475
Michelle Atherley (USA) 6465
Taliyah Brooks (USA) 6408
Vanessa Grimm (GER) 6323
Jana Koscak (CRO) 6293
Tori West (AUS) 6245
Esther Conde-Turpin (FRA) 6230
Sarah Lagger (AUT) 6225
Beatrice Juskeviciute (LTU) 6192
Men’s decathlon
Johannes Erm (EST) 8764
Ayden Owens-Delerme (PUR) 8732
Niklas Kaul (GER) 8691
Karel Tilga (EST) 8681
Tim Nowak (GER) 8282
Jente Hauttekeete (BEL) 8268
Rasmus Roosleht (EST) 8241
Niels Pittomvils (EST) 8222
Kendrick Thompson (BAH) 8182
Risto Lillemets (EST) 8156