Doha 2019 Countdown: Part 1
As we count down the last few days until the World Championships decathlon, Decathlonpedia brings you a countdown of all the decathletes competing in Doha, and their season so far.
Cedric qualified for the World Championships with his score of 8185 in Götzis this year, just 15 points short of the automatic qualification of 8200. The timing of the Australian season meant that his lifetime best score set in the previous year - 8229 on the Gold Coast in February 2018 – was just outwith the qualifying period. And with only 5 discretionary places available, the 3-time Australian decathlon champion and Commonwealth bronze medallist has had an agonising wait since May to see if he would make the cut and receive an invitation. But that 3-second 1500m PB in Götzis, going under 4:30 for the first time, was worth it. This is Cedric’s 2nd world championships – he finished 18th in London.
Photo credit: Olavi Kaljunen, Trackpic
Ilya had a good start to 2019, winning bronze in the European Indoor Championships in Glasgow in March, to complement his silver medal in the outdoor European Champions in Berlin last year with 8321 behind Arthur Abele. So far it hasn’t been a vintage year for the dancing Russian, finishing just short of 8000 points with 7982 in Götzis, and a DNF in Talence after a no-height in the high jump. But, aside from a mishap in the hurdles in London – the discipline which also took out Mihail Dudaš and 2009 champion Trey Hardee - Ilya has a good World Championships record. He finished 8th at his home championships in Moscow in 2013 as a 22 year old, and fourth in Beijing in 2015 behind Ashton Eaton as the decathlon legend set his second WR of 9045 in the iconic Bird’s Nest.
Photo credit: Olavi Kaljunen, Trackpic
It would take quite a performance at the Decastar meeting in Talence this year to follow up the outstanding events of 2018, but Pierce produced one of the performances of the season when he returned in June to the scene of his 2016 breakthrough. He opened the event with a 100m PB of 10.31 and then led for the rest of the competition ahead of Zach Ziemek and Thomas Van der Plaetsen. But it was in the pole vault where the Canadian did the damage, improving his 5.05 lifetime best to 5.15 and then 5.25, keeping pace with the bigger vaulters and ultimately taking himself to a win and an Olympic qualifying score of 8453. While Doha will be Pierce’s first World Championships, he brings a 2018 Commonwealth silver medal and a 2019 Pan American Games bronze medal to the start line.
Photo credit: Michel Fisquet, Team Photo Marseille
Dominik Distelberger might be the favourite of the home crowd in Götzis, but Grenada’s Lindon Victor is a close second, delighting the audience with his adventures in the pole vault and his post-decathlon beer skills. But he earned this year’s beer with the second best score of his career, 8473 to finish second behind Damian Warner. In doing so he ran his fastest ever 100m of 10.56, and jumped his longest ever leap of 7.43. That came hot on the heels of a new discus best of 55.87 in April in California. His second decathlon of the year resulted in 8240 and a silver medal, again behind Warner, in the chilly climes of Peru at the Pan American Games in August. Lindon did not finish his decathlon in London in 2017, but the reigning Commonwealth champion has had a superb year so far in 2019 ahead of his second World Championships.
Photo credit: Olavi Kaljunen, Trackpic
You can relive the action from the 2019 season by checking out our previews and reviews (below), and click on the athletes' name to see more information, including videos.
• 2019 European Indoors review
• 2019 Götzis preview
• 2019 Götzis review
• 2019 Talence preview
• 2019 Talence review
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