Kevin Mayer (, or , born 10 February 1992) is a French

athlete An athlete (also sportsman or sportswoman) is a person who competes in one or more sports that involve physical strength, speed, or endurance. Athletes may be professionals or amateurs. Most professional athletes have particularly well-de ...

. He is two-time world champion (

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a s ...

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), two-time Olympic silver medalist ( 2016 Rio de Janeiro and

2020 Tokyo The , officially the and also known as , was an international multi-sport event held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some preliminary events that began on 21 July. Tokyo was selected as the host city during the ...

) and

world record A world record is usually the best global and most important performance that is ever recorded and officially verified in a specific skill, sport, or other kind of activity. The book ''Guinness World Records'' and other world records organization ...

holder in the

decathlon The decathlon is a combined event in athletics consisting of ten track and field events. The word "decathlon" was formed, in analogy to the word "pentathlon", from Greek δέκα (''déka'', meaning "ten") and ἄθλος (''áthlos'', or ἄ ...

. He is also a world and European champion in indoor

heptathlon A heptathlon is a track and field combined events contest made up of seven events. The name derives from the Greek επτά (hepta, meaning "seven") and ἄθλος (áthlos, or ἄθλον, áthlon, meaning "competition"). A competitor in a hept ...

Career

2008–2011: Youth career

In 2009, at the age of 17, Mayer won the

octathlon An octathlon is a combined event competition consisting of eight different sports or contests. Track and field An octathlon in athletics is an event which consists of eight track and field events. The word "octathlon" derives from the Greek words ...

gold medal at the World Youth Championships. In the following year, he won the

gold medal at the 2010 World Junior Championships. Kévin Mayer Tallinn 2011

In 2011, at the

European Athletics Junior Championships The European Athletics U20 Championships (formerly named the European Athletics Junior Championships up to 2015) are the European championships for athletes who are under-20 athletes, which is the age range recognised by World Athletics as jun ...

held in

Tallinn Tallinn () is the most populous and capital city of Estonia. Situated on a bay in north Estonia, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland of the Baltic Sea, Tallinn has a population of 437,811 (as of 2022) and administratively lies in the Harju '' ...

, Mayer won the decathlon gold.

2012: First Olympic Games

Mayer competed at the

2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, th ...

, finishing 15th.

2013–2015: European Championships medals

He won a silver medal in the

at the

2013 European Athletics Indoor Championships The 2013 European Athletics Indoor Championships were held at Scandinavium and Svenska Mässan in Gothenburg, Sweden, on 1–3 March 2013. Bidding process The decision to grant the event for Gothenburg was made by the European Athletics Council a ...

with a new personal best of 6297 points. At the 2013 European Cup Combined Events he topped the podium and set personal bests in the

100 metres The 100 metres, or 100-meter dash, is a sprint race in track and field competitions. The shortest common outdoor running distance, the dash is one of the most popular and prestigious events in the sport of athletics. It has been conteste ...

(11.04 sec),

long jump The long jump is a track and field event in which athletes combine speed, strength and agility in an attempt to leap as far as possible from a takeoff point. Along with the triple jump, the two events that measure jumping for distance as a ...

(7.63 m),

shot put The shot put is a track and field event involving "putting" (throwing) a heavy spherical ball—the ''shot''—as far as possible. The shot put competition for men has been a part of the modern Olympics since their revival in 1896, and women's c ...

(14.95 m) and the

discus throw The discus throw (), also known as disc throw, is a track and field event in which an athlete throws a heavy disc—called a discus—in an attempt to mark a farther distance than their competitors. It is an ancient sport, as demonstrated by th ...

(44.89 m). In 2014, at the

European Athletics Championships The European Athletics Championships is a biennial (from 2010) athletics event organised by the European Athletics Association and is recognised as the elite continental outdoor athletics championships for Europe. Editions First held, for men ...

held in Zurich, Mayer achieved a personal best of 8521 points in decathlon, winning him the silver medal. On 12 August 2015, Mayer announced his withdrawal from the 2015 World Championships because of a

hamstring In human anatomy, a hamstring () is any one of the three posterior thigh muscles in between the hip and the knee (from medial to lateral: semimembranosus, semitendinosus and biceps femoris). The hamstrings are susceptible to injury. In quadrupe ...

injury sustained in the end of July 2015.

2016: Olympic silver medal

On 6 March 2016, Mayer announced his withdrawal from the 2016 World Indoor Championships because of a heel injury sustained during the

hurdles Hurdling is the act of jumping over an obstacle at a high speed or in a sprint. In the early 19th century, hurdlers ran at and jumped over each hurdle (sometimes known as 'burgles'), landing on both feet and checking their forward motion. Today, ...

race at the French Indoor Athletics Championships held at the end of February in

Aubière Aubière (; Auvergnat: ''Aubèira'') is a commune located in the department of Puy-de-Dôme in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region in southeast France. As of 2017 its population was 10,061. The town is home to the Cézeaux campus of the University of ...

At the

2016 Rio Olympics ) , nations = 207 (including IOA and EOR teams) , athletes = 11,238 , events = 306 in 28 sports (41 disciplines) , opening = 5 August 2016 , closing = 21 August 2016 , opened_by = Vice President Michel Temer , cauldron = Vanderlei Cordeiro de ...

, Mayer earned a silver medal with a new personal best of 8834 points, finishing behind only two-time gold medallist

Ashton Eaton Ashton James Eaton (born January 21, 1988) is a retired American decathlete and two-time Olympic champion, who holds the world record in the indoor heptathlon event. Eaton was the second decathlete (after Roman Šebrle) to break the 9,000-point ...

, who was the world record holder at the time. Highlights of his campaign include equalling or improving personal outdoor bests in four events (100 m, shot put, 400 m, pole vault) and performing seasonal bests in three others (long jump, high jump, 1500 m); he was also the best decathlete in two disciplines (the shot put, with 15.76 m and 836 points; and the pole vault, with 5.40 m and 1035 points, sharing first place with Thomas van der Plaetsen) and lead the standings at the end of the first day of the competition (i.e. after 5 out of 10 events). Furthermore, this performance ranks as the sixth-best personal best score in the men's decathlon, and showed a marked improvement in form for Mayer, bettering his former personal best of 8521 points (set during the aforementioned silver medal run at the

2014 European Athletics Championships The 2014 European Athletics Championships was held in Zürich, Switzerland, between 12 and 17 August 2014. It was the first time that Switzerland had hosted the European Athletics Championships since 1954. Great Britain headed the medal table, wi ...

) by 313 points and the French national record by 260 points.

2017: European Indoor Champion and World Champion

Mayer's first combined events competition of the year was an indoor track and field triathlon (60m hurdles, shot put, long jump) at the National Indoor Meeting of Paris on 8 February. He finished last (out of three), with 1652 points after failing to receive a score in the 60m hurdles. At the

2017 European Athletics Indoor Championships The 2017 European Athletics Indoor Championships were held between 3 and 5 March 2017 at the Kombank Arena in Belgrade, Serbia. This was the second time this event was held in the city after the 1969 edition then known as the European Indoor Game ...

Belgrade Belgrade ( , ;, ; names in other languages) is the capital and largest city in Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers and the crossroads of the Pannonian Plain and the Balkan Peninsula. Nearly 1,166,763 mi ...

on 4–5 March, Mayer won the gold medal in the men's heptathlon. He set a new European record of 6479 points, beating the record set by

Roman Šebrle Roman Šebrle (; born 26 November 1974) is a retired decathlete from the Czech Republic. He is considered to be one of the best decathlon athletes of all time. Originally a high jumper, he later switched to the combined events and is a former worl ...

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight ...

Budapest Budapest (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Hungary. It is the ninth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits and the second-largest city on the Danube river; the city has an estimated population o ...

by 41 points. It was also the second-best score in men's indoor heptathlon, behind

's world record of 6645 points. He achieved two new indoor personal bests (in 60m hurdles and pole vault) and established a new European record. Kévin_Mayer_London_2017

On 15 April, he had his first outdoor competition at a triathlon (200m, high jump, discus throw) in L'Étang-Salé,

Réunion Réunion (; french: La Réunion, ; previously ''Île Bourbon''; rcf, label= Reunionese Creole, La Rényon) is an island in the Indian Ocean that is an overseas department and region of France. It is located approximately east of the island o ...

. Mayer won all three events, finishing in first place with 2642 points. Mayer then took part in the decathlon in his adopted hometown of

Montpellier Montpellier (, , ; oc, Montpelhièr ) is a city in southern France near the Mediterranean Sea. One of the largest urban centres in the region of Occitania, Montpellier is the prefecture of the department of Hérault. In 2018, 290,053 people l ...

on 13–14 May, and achieved a season best mark in discus and shot put. He also took part in the French Elite Outdoor Championships in Marseille on 14–15 July, but struggled in the rainy and windy conditions and finished the competition with a few no marks. At the

2017 World Championships in Athletics Seventeen or 17 may refer to: *17 (number), the natural number following 16 and preceding 18 * one of the years 17 BC, AD 17, 1917, 2017 Literature Magazines * ''Seventeen'' (American magazine), an American magazine * ''Seventeen'' (Japanese m ...

in London, Mayer completed his first decathlon of the year and won his first World Championships gold medal with a world-leading score of 8768 points, ahead of Germans Rico Freimuth (silver, 8564 points) and

Kai Kazmirek Kai Kazmirek (born 28 January 1991) is a German track and field athlete who competes in the decathlon. He holds a personal best of 8580 points for the event achieved in Rio 2016, as well as an indoor heptathlon best of 6173 points. He is a mem ...

(bronze, 8488 points). This was also France's first international gold medal in the decathlon. Despite not coming first in any specific discipline, Mayer achieved new personal bests in the 100 metres (10.70s, 929 points), 400 metres (48.28s, 897 points), and the 110 metres hurdles (13.75, 1007 points). A setback in the pole vault – where he cleared his only mark at 5.10m only at the third and last try – 30 cm below his personal record – prevented him from breaking his personal record.

2018: Indoor heptathlon gold and world decathlon record

In 2018, at the World Indoor Championships held in Birmingham, Mayer won gold in the

with 6348 points. In a closely fought contest, Mayer narrowly beat Damian Warner of Canada by five points to win his first world indoor title. He achieved his indoor personal best in the 60m and long jump. However, at the

European Championships The European Championships is a multi-sport tournament which brings together the existing European Championships of some of the continent's leading sports every four years. The inaugural edition in 2018 was staged by the host cities of Berlin, ...

, he failed in the long jump with three fouls and did not finish the

. After the setback at the European Championships, Mayer took part at the Décastar held in

Talence Talence (, ; oc, Talança, ; ca, Talença, ) is a commune in the Gironde department, administrative region of Nouvelle-Aquitaine, France. It is the third-largest suburb of the city of Bordeaux, and is adjacent to it on the south side. It is ...

, France in September 2018. There Mayer broke

's decathlon

, establishing a new mark of 9126 points. Mayer started strongly in the first day, but at 4563 points was still 140 points still behind Eaton's first day total. In the second day, he achieved his best-ever distance of 71.90m in the javelin and the best-ever height of 5.45m in the pole vault in a competition, as well as wins in the 110m hurdles and discus, allowing him to break the world record by 81 points.

2019–2020

Mayer did not defend his European heptathlon title at the 2019 Indoor Championships. At the 2019 World Championships, Mayer suffered an injury and had to withdraw from the men's decathlon event. He achieved his personal best in 100m and shot put and was leading the competition after 7 events, but withdrew before the pole vault due to a problem with his Achilles.

2021: Tokyo Olympics silver

At the

2021 European Athletics Indoor Championships The 2021 European Athletics Indoor Championships was held from 4 to 7 March 2021 at the Arena Toruń in Toruń, Poland. This was the second time this event was held in Poland after the 1975 edition in Katowice. The four-day competition featured 1 ...

held in

Toruń )'' , image_skyline = , image_caption = , image_flag = POL Toruń flag.svg , image_shield = POL Toruń COA.svg , nickname = City of Angels, Gingerbread city, Copernicus Town , pushpin_map = Kuyavian-Pom ...

, Poland, Mayer won the Men's heptathlon event with 6392 points. At the

2020 Tokyo Olympics The , officially the and also known as , was an international multi-sport event held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some preliminary events that began on 21 July. Tokyo was selected as the host city during the ...

, Mayer started below expectation in the Men's decathlon, ending in 5th place after the first five events. However, in the final day, he performed well in a few events, such as the hurdle and pole vault as well as a personal best in javelin throw, which allowed him rise in the ranking and win a silver behind Damian Warner of Canada.

2022: World gold

Mayer did not compete in the

2022 World Athletics Indoor Championships The 18th World Athletics Indoor Championships were held from 18 to 20 March 2022 in Belgrade, Serbia. Ethiopia headed the medal table, with 4 gold medals, despite winning only nine in total. United States, second on gold medals won with 3, won ...

due to an issue with his

Achilles In Greek mythology, Achilles ( ) or Achilleus ( grc-gre, Ἀχιλλεύς) was a hero of the Trojan War, the greatest of all the Greek warriors, and the central character of Homer's '' Iliad''. He was the son of the Nereid Thetis and Pe ...

after catching Covid earlier. At the

World Championships A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...

held in

Eugene, Oregon Eugene ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Oregon. It is located at the southern end of the Willamette Valley, near the confluence of the McKenzie and Willamette rivers, about east of the Oregon Coast. As of the 2020 United States Census, ...

in July, Mayer regained his world title in Men's decathlon, during which Warner withdrew due to a hamstring injury. He again started poorly in 6th place after the first day, but gradually improved his position, and won in the last day with first place finishes in pole vault and javelin.

Personal life

Mayer was born on 10 February 1992 in

Argenteuil Argenteuil () is a commune in the northwestern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the center of Paris. Argenteuil is a sub-prefecture of the Val-d'Oise department, the seat of the arrondissement of Argenteuil. Argenteuil is the sec ...

, a commune in the northwest suburbs of

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. Si ...

, to André and Carole Mayer. His paternal family and German surname have their origin in the northeastern region of

Lorraine Lorraine , also , , ; Lorrain: ''Louréne''; Lorraine Franconian: ''Lottringe''; german: Lothringen ; lb, Loutrengen; nl, Lotharingen is a cultural and historical region in Northeastern France, now located in the administrative region of Gra ...

, where his father grew up; some of his relatives still live in the Moselle department next to the border with Germany. He has three brothers: Thibault, Thomas and Sébastien; the family was raised in

La Roche-de-Glun La Roche-de-Glun (; oc, La Ròcha de Glun) is a commune in the Drôme department in southeastern France. It lies on the left bank of the Rhône, opposite the village Glun (Ardèche department). Population See also *Communes of the Drôme d ...

, a small town by the

Rhône The Rhône ( , ; wae, Rotten ; frp, Rôno ; oc, Ròse ) is a major river in France and Switzerland, rising in the Alps and flowing west and south through Lake Geneva and southeastern France before discharging into the Mediterranean Sea. At Ar ...

river in the southeast of the country (

Drôme Drôme (; Occitan: ''Droma''; Arpitan: ''Drôma'') is the southernmost department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of Southeastern France. Named after the river Drôme, it had a population of 516,762 as of 2019.

department), where his parents still live. Mayer started practicing athletics at the sports association ''EA Tain-Tournon'' close to his hometown; after the club's merger with two other Drôme-based athletics associations in 2013, Mayer continued representing it through the new institution, ''EA Rhône Vercors 26-07''. He trains at the CREPS Montpellier, a training center for high-performance athletes, since 2008; ever since moving to

, he has been coached by Bertrand Valcin. He studied for a :fr:Diplôme universitaire de technologie en mesures physiques (a technological degree in physical measurements, including

metrology Metrology is the scientific study of measurement. It establishes a common understanding of units, crucial in linking human activities. Modern metrology has its roots in the French Revolution's political motivation to standardise units in Fran ...

and

instrumentation Instrumentation a collective term for measuring instruments that are used for indicating, measuring and recording physical quantities. The term has its origins in the art and science of scientific instrument-making. Instrumentation can refer to ...

) at the University of Montpellier-Sète.

Achievements

Performance in major international events

Best results in combined events

List of senior decathlons with results over 8000 points

List of senior heptathlons with results over 5800 points

Personal bests

Outdoor

Indoor

Notes

References

External links

* * *
Kevin Mayer
at ''Decathlon 2000'' * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Mayer, Kevin 1992 births Living people Athletes (track and field) at the 2012 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2016 Summer Olympics Olympic athletes of France French decathletes Sportspeople from Argenteuil European Athletics Championships medalists Olympic silver medalists for France Olympic silver medalists in athletics (track and field) Medalists at the 2016 Summer Olympics World Athletics Championships athletes for France World Athletics Championships medalists Olympic decathletes World Athletics record holders European Athlete of the Year winners World Athletics Championships winners World Athletics Indoor Championships winners European Athletics Indoor Championships winners Athletes (track and field) at the 2020 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2020 Summer Olympics