The starting gun for the 100m decathlon at the Stade de France in Saint-Denis will be fired on
Friday, 2 August at 10:05 am CET.
For world record holder Kevin Mayer (FRA - PB 9126), this marks the start of "hour zero". He won the silver medal in both Rio de Janeiro 2016 and Tokyo 2021. The whole of France is now expecting him to triumph in the supreme discipline of athletics events - the decathlon in Paris 2024. The question is whether he will be able to compete fully fit after his accident in the hurdles at the Diamond League meeting in Paris about three weeks ago. His compatriot Makenson Gletty (FRA - PB 8606, bronze medal winner at the European Championships in Rome 2024) can certainly be considered an outsider with the support of 70,000 spectators.
Damian Warner (CAN - PB 9018) is aiming for his third Olympic medal after bronze in Rio de Janeiro and gold in Tokyo. If you add up his respective best performances in all ten disciplines, this would result in 9308 points. However, he did not even achieve a personal best in any of the disciplines in his decathlon - and still managed to surpass the 9000-point mark in the overall result!
The German decathlon team is led by the year's world best Leo Neugebauer (GER - PB 8961). The shooting star not only improved the 22-year-old German indoor record held by Frank Busemann in spring, but also just missed the 9000-point barrier at the beginning of June with 8961 points. He is considered one of the top favorites for the gold medal. Another medal candidate is his team-mate and former World and European champion Niklas Kaul (GER - PB 8691), who is aiming to improve on his result from the 2019 World Championships in Doha. The team is completed by Till Steinforth (GER - PB 8287).
There are also three starters from the decathlon stronghold of Estonia. They are led by the current European champion Johannes Erm (EST - PB 8764). His compatriots Karel Tilga (EST - PB 8681) and Janek Öiglane (EST - PB 8524) have struggled with minor injuries this season, but are medal contenders if they are fit enough.
The top three finishers at the US Trials qualified for Paris. Led by the most experienced decathlete in the US team, Zachery Ziemek (USA - PB 8676), Harrison Williams (USA - PB 8630) and newcomer Heath Baldwin (USA - PB 8625) will also want to have a say in the medals.
The Netherlands will be represented by Sven Roosen (NED - PB 8517) and Rik Taam (NED - PB 8326). The two Norwegians Sander Skotheim (NOR - PB 8635) and Markus Rooth (NOR - PB 8608) are also highly rated. Australia will be represented by the bronze medal winner of the Tokyo Games 2021, Ashley Moloney (AUS - PB 8649), and Daniel Golubovic (AUS - PB 8336). Both qualified for the Olympic Games by competing at the Hypomeeting Götzis.
Ken Mullings (BAH - PB 8176), Jorge Urena (ESP - PB 8381), Jose Fernando Ferreira Santana (BRA - PB 8063) as well as Ayden Owens-Delerme (PUR - PB 8732) and Lindon Victor (GRN - PB 8756) complete the field of participants in the decathlon. Owens-Delerme and Victor are also rated among the medal contenders.
The big unlucky ones are reigning World Champion Pierce LePage (CAN), who had to withdraw his entry due to injury and miss out on a start, and Manuel Eitel (GER) from Ulm, who unfortunately fell ill this week.