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

athlete An athlete is most commonly a person who competes in one or more sports involving physical strength, speed, power, or endurance. Sometimes, the word "athlete" is used to refer specifically to sport of athletics competitors, i.e. including track ...

specialising in

decathlon The decathlon is a combined event in athletics consisting of 10 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 ...

and indoor

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

. He is two-time world champion (in 2017 and 2022), two-time Olympic silver medalist ( 2016 Rio and

2020 Tokyo Olympics The officially the and officially branded as were an international multi-sport event that was held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some of the preliminary sporting events beginning on 21 July 2021. Tokyo ...

) and the

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 organizatio ...

holder in the

since 2018. He is also a world and three-time European champion in heptathlon. Mayer started competing as a junior and he became the world junior champion in decathlon in 2010. He started winning medals as a senior in European Championships for heptathlon in

2013 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...

and decathlon in

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

. He won his first medal at the Olympics when he came second in

at the

2016 Rio Olympics The 2016 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad () and officially branded as Rio 2016, were an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, with preliminary events i ...

. He became a world decathlon champion in

2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...

. In 2018, he became a world indoor champion in

, and set a world record in decathlon with 9126 points the same year. In 2021, he came second again in decathlon at the

Tokyo Olympics Tokyo Olympics may refer to: * 1940 Summer Olympics, Games of the XII Olympiad, cancelled due to World War II * 1964 Summer Olympics, Games of the XVIII Olympiad * 2020 Summer Olympics The officially the and officially branded as were an ...

. In 2022, he won his second decathlon gold 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 ...

Career

2008–2011: Youth career

In 2009, at the age of 17, Mayer won the octathlon gold medal at the World Youth Championships. In the following year, he won the

gold medal at the 2010 World Junior Championships. 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 capital city, capital and List of cities in Estonia, most populous city of Estonia. Situated on a Tallinn Bay, bay in north Estonia, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland of the Baltic Sea, it has a population of (as of 2025) and ...

, 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, were an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

, 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 at ...

with a new personal best of 6297 points. At the

2013 European Cup Combined Events The 2013 European Cup Combined Events were held in Tallinn, Estonia, at the Kadriorg Stadium (Super league), in Nottwil, Canton of Lucerne, Lucerne, Switzerland, at the Sport Arena Nottwil (First league), and in Ribeira Brava, Madeira, Ribeira Brav ...

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 contested at ...

(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 gr ...

(7.63 m),

shot put The shot put is a track-and-field event involving "putting" (throwing) a heavy spherical Ball (sports), ball—the ''shot''—as far as possible. For men, the sport has been a part of the Olympic Games, modern Olympics since their 1896 Summer Olym ...

(14.95 m) and the

discus throw The discus throw (), also known as disc throw, is a track and field sport in which the participant athlete throws an oblate spheroid weight (object), weight called a discus in an attempt to mark a further distance than other competitors. It is a ...

(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 Athletic Association and is recognised as the elite continental outdoor athletics championships for Europe. Editions First held, for me ...

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 A hamstring () is any one of the three posterior thigh muscles in human anatomy between the hip and the knee: from medial to lateral, the semimembranosus, semitendinosus and biceps femoris. Etymology The word " ham" is derived from the Old ...

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 dialect, Auvergnat: ''Aubèira'') is a Communes of France, 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 t ...

At the

, 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-poi ...

, 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 led 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 European Athletics Championships, 1954. G ...

) 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 European Indoor Games, 1969 edition then known a ...

Belgrade Belgrade is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers and at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin, Pannonian Plain and the Balkan Peninsula. T ...

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 wo ...

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 60 ...

Budapest Budapest is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns of Hungary, most populous city of Hungary. It is the List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, tenth-largest city in the European Union by popul ...

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. On 15 April, he had his first outdoor competition at a triathlon (200m, high jump, discus throw) in

L'Étang-Salé L'Étang-Salé (; French for ''The Salty Pond'') is a commune in southwestern Réunion, a department in the Indian Ocean. It is bordered by the communes of Les Avirons and Saint-Louis. Within the commune is the Étang-Salé forest. There is al ...

Réunion Réunion (; ; ; known as before 1848) is an island in the Indian Ocean that is an overseas departments and regions of France, overseas department and region of France. Part of the Mascarene Islands, it is located approximately east of the isl ...

. 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 (; ) is a city in southern France near the Mediterranean Sea. One of the largest urban centres in the region of Occitania (administrative region), Occitania, Montpellier is the prefecture of the Departments of France, department of ...

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 The 2017 IAAF World Championships, the sixteenth edition of the IAAF World Championships, were held from 4 to 13 August at London Stadium in London, United Kingdom. London was officially awarded the championships on 11 November 2011. Bidding p ...

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 (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 Damian David George Warner (born November 4, 1989) is a Canadian track and field athlete specializing in decathlon. He is the 2020 Olympic champion and a four-time world medallist (silver in 2015 and 2023, bronze in 2013 and 2019). Warner also ...

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 A European Championship is the top level international sports competition between European athletes or sports teams representing their respective countries or professional sports clubs. In the plural, the European Championships also refers t ...

, 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 Décastar (stylised ''DECASTAR'') is an annual Sport of athletics, athletics competition that takes place in Talence, in the Departments of France, department of the Gironde in France. Organised by ADEL'ADEM it is one of the athletics meetings tha ...

held in

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

, 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 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 ...

held in

Toruń Toruń is a city on the Vistula River in north-central Poland and a World Heritage Sites of Poland, UNESCO World Heritage Site. Its population was 196,935 as of December 2021. Previously, it was the capital of the Toruń Voivodeship (1975–199 ...

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

of Canada.

2022: Second 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. United States won the most medals, with 19, as well as getting the second highest number o ...

due to an issue with his

Achilles In Greek mythology, Achilles ( ) or Achilleus () was a hero of the Trojan War who was known as being the greatest of all the Greek warriors. The central character in Homer's ''Iliad'', he was the son of the Nereids, Nereid Thetis and Peleus, ...

after catching Covid earlier. At the

held in

Eugene, Oregon Eugene ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Lane County, Oregon, United States. It is located at the southern end of the Willamette Valley, near the confluence of the McKenzie River (Oregon), McKenzie and Willamette River, Willamette rivers, ...

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. He withdrew from the

at the

2022 European Athletics Championships The 2022 European Athletics Championships were the 25th edition of the European Athletics Championships and were held in Munich, Germany, from 15 to 21 August 2022. They were part of the 2022 European Championships, European Championships, a multi ...

after suffering a thigh injury in the first event.

2023: Third European indoor gold

Kevin Mayer took part in the

2023 European Athletics Indoor Championships The 2023 European Athletics Indoor Championships was held from 2 to 5 March 2023 at the Ataköy Athletics Arena, Ataköy Arena in Istanbul, Turkey, the first time the event took place in this country although the venue did stage the 2012 IAAF Worl ...

held in

Istanbul Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...

in March 2023. On the first day of competition, he equaled his personal best in the 60m (6.85s), achieved 7.41m in the long jump, reached 15.81m in the shot put and cleared 1.98m in the high jump, ranking second in the general classification, 67 pts from the Norwegian

Sander Skotheim Sander Aae Skotheim (born 31 May 2002) is a Norwegian decathlete, multi-event track and field, athlete. He is a European Athletics Championships, European Championships silver medallist in decathlon, and a World Athletics Indoor Championships, W ...

. The second day, he won the 60-meter hurdles (7.76s), the pole vault (5.30 m) and managed to keep a lead of 30 points in the standings (6,348 pts against 6,318 pts) at the end of the 1,000 meters despite a slower time than his Norwegian opponent (2 min 37 s 82 against 2 min 44 s 20). He won a third European indoor heptathlon champion title after 2017 and 2021, equaling the performance of the Czech

on the number of titles of this event. Mayer went into the

2023 World Athletics Championships The 2023 World Athletics Championships (), the nineteenth edition of the World Athletics Championships, were held from 19 to 27 August 2023 at the National Athletics Centre (Budapest), National Athletics Centre, in Budapest, Hungary. The tourna ...

while suffering from pain in his left Achilles tendon. He eventually withdrew after the second event, the long jump, to focus on the

2024 Olympics The 2024 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXIII Olympiad () and branded as Paris 2024, were an international multi-sport event held in France from 26 July to 11 August 2024, with several events started from 24 July. P ...

to be held in Paris. A few days before the Olympic event was about to start in August 2024, Mayer withdrew from the competition due to an injury.

Personal life

Mayer was born on 10 February 1992 in

Argenteuil Argenteuil () is a Communes of France, commune in the northwestern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the Kilometre Zero, center of Paris. Argenteuil is a Subprefectures in France, sub-prefecture of the Val-d'Oise Departments of France, ...

, a commune in the northwest suburbs of

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

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

Lorraine Lorraine, also , ; ; Lorrain: ''Louréne''; Lorraine Franconian: ''Lottringe''; ; ; is a cultural and historical region in Eastern France, now located in the administrative region of Grand Est. Its name stems from the medieval kingdom of ...

, where his father grew up; some of his relatives still live in the

Moselle department Moselle () is the most populous department in Lorraine, in the northeast of France, and is named after the river Moselle, a tributary of the Rhine, which flows through the western part of the department. It had a population of 1,046,543 in 201 ...

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 (; ) 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 department A commune i ...

, a small town by the

Rhône The Rhône ( , ; Occitan language, Occitan: ''Ròse''; Franco-Provençal, Arpitan: ''Rôno'') is a major river in France and Switzerland, rising in the Alps and flowing west and south through Lake Geneva and Southeastern France before dischargi ...

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 Diplôme universitaire de technologie en mesures physiques (a technology-based degree in physical measurements, including

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

and

instrumentation Instrumentation is a collective term for measuring instruments, used for indicating, measuring, and recording physical quantities. It is also a field of study about the art and science about making measurement instruments, involving the related ...

) 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 for France French decathletes Sportspeople from Argenteuil Athletes from Val-d'Oise 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