by Alfonz Juck
Arthur Abele, European Athletics Champ, Decathlon, photo by Getty Images/ European AthleticsAbele and Schafer favorites for challenge, but Mayer also there
TALENCE (FRA): European decathlon champion Arthur Abele is in pole position to take over at the top of the IAAF Combined Events Challenge standings as the series comes to an end at the 42nd Decastar in Talence this weekend, while world champion France’s Kevin Mayer will be trying to bounce back from his European Champs DNF. Norway’s Martin Roe, who misses the event, leads the standings, but a score of 7464 would be enough for Abele to win the challenge. Ilya Shkurenyov and Vitaliy Zhuk, the 2018 European silver and bronze medallists, and Pieter Braun, who was seventh in Berlin, will also take part. Germany’s world silver medallist Carolin Schafer heads the women’s heptathlon entries. Czech Republic’s Katerina Cachova, who was sixth in Berlin, and Austria’s Verena Preiner would each need big PBs of more than 6700 points to take over the lead in the standings from Erica Bougard, who won’t be in Talence. USA’s Allison Reaser is another of the favourites.
