British combined events athlete Harry Kendall looks at the decathletes and heptathletes most likely to shine at the Games
With the European Championships concluded and some big performances banked, we now have a better idea of where we stand with the combined events rankings and who has the best chance for a medal come the Olympic Games in Paris.
On behalf of Neuff Athletic, I will be examining the athletes’ chances in both the heptathlon and the decathlon and come forward with my predictions for the top three in both at the Games.
Breaking down the decathlon
I may be biased, but I strongly believe the decathlon is the highest quality and most exciting event at this year’s Games.
Potentially, up to 16 people by my count could score over 8500 points, a mammoth score which could get you close to the medals at almost every major championships.
As my coach often likes to remind me, decathlon is 10 events put together, and whomever may be leading before the final event, could even finish outside of the medals come to the end of the 1500m.
It is difficult to pick a favourite for the Olympic title, but I’ll start with the current world leader in the decathlon. The mighty German, Leo Neugebauer.
Although his breakout season may well have been last year, this season Neugebauer has kicked on to score a personal best 8961 points in the USA. He placed fifth in Budapest after a few missteps on day two, meaning he will be desperate to make amends this time around.
Leo Neugebauer (Getty)
Neugebauer is spectacularly strong across the board, particularly with his enormous shot and discus throws, the latter of which he holds the world decathlon best with over 57m. His biggest weakness, however, occurs at the very end of the decathlon, in the javelin and the 1500m.
Most decathletes appear to labour around the 1500m due to their sizeable frames, particularly in comparison with professional middle-distance runners, but the NCAA champion does tend to drop more points than most in this discipline.
When you have athletes such as his fellow German Niklas Kaul capable of performances like a 78m javelin and a 4:15 1500m, (compared to Neugebauer’s 58.99 and 4:42) Neugebauer will need a sizeable lead before these two events to be sure of his gold medal.
The Canadians have been a fairly dominant force in multi-events for the best part of the decade and none have led the charge better than Damian Warner and Pierce Lepage.
Damian Warner (Bjorn Paree)
Warner is the…
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