The Decastar combined events meeting in Talence celebrates 50 years this weekend, returning to its strategic position as the closing competition of the combined events season. And redemption is on the agenda.
The Decastar combined events meeting has two alter egos. The summer Decastar, and the autumn Decastar.
The summer version, of 2019 and 2025 in recent times, sits squeezed alongside the likes of Arona, Ratingen and Nakło nad Notecią in June and July, with fields stretched over too many meets in too few weeks.
That disruption is a function of, in 2019, the late timing of the Doha World Championships and, in 2025, World Athletics’ new and sensible principle of positioning the major global championships at the end of the season. Both occasions have bumped Decastar from its traditional September slot into the busy summer months, and the new timing for World Championships may well prompt a more considered reshaping of the current chaotic approach to the Combined Events Tour.
However, it is the September version of Decastar which sparkles most brightly, and it is fitting we get to enjoy that iteration on this half-century celebration.
Because September Decastar is the ultimate redemption meet.
It was host to the ultimate redemption decathlon of Kevin Mayer in 2018. He roared back from a no-mark in the long jump at the 2018 Berlin European Championships to deliver a dream decathlon in Talence, two days of perfectly symmetrical points, and a sublime world record.
Mayer and many others among the Decastars of the last half century will be in Talence on Friday 18th and Saturday 19th September to celebrate 50 years of the meeting.
This weekend’s festivities will, however, be tinged with sadness, following the sudden death this week of Nicole Durand, the heart of Decastar’s organisation for many years.
Olympic and world champions assemble
On the track, and on the field, the 2026 Decastar is too likely to be one of redemption.
Triple Olympic champion Nafi Thiam (BEL) has been in the wilderness since winning her third Olympic title in Paris. Injuries, combined with the stress of a fraught relationship with the national Federation ahead of the 2025 Tokyo world championships, have stood in the way of meaningful competition.
She has dabbled in a few individual events, some in Ratingen in June, some at home in Belgium including the Diamond League final. Those competitions bore a useful, if not outstanding for Thiam, consistency at 1.84m in the high jump, 14.64m in shot, 24.99s 200m, 13.83s in hurdles and a long jump of 6.32m.
With the opportunity to extend her back-to-back European titles from three to four gently removed from her 2026 to-do list, Decastar is the last chance for Thiam to log a heptathlon mark before the pressured cycle of qualification for Beijing in 2027 ramps up again.
The 2021 Olympic champion Damian Warner (CAN) has had an unusual season. A modest score of 8497 for fourth in Götzis should have set him up for a clean run at Commonwealth gold. But the damp, chilly ambience of Glasgow did not agree with Warner, and he was beset by cramp, particularly in his arms and affecting his throws, throughout the competition. It is testament to Warner that he stayed in touch with the ultimate champion Lindon Victor – who got married this past week – and ahead of bronze medallist TJ Shankar. Talence is the opportunity for Warner to extract something useful from the season, to inform his reflections on what the next few years will hold for him.
Warner’s teammate, the 2023 world champion and 2019 Decastar winner Pierce LePage (CAN), is also searching for points. With 8117 in Götzis, no Commonwealth Games and, like Warner, measured against the sky-high expectations the pair have set for themselves LePage is also at a crossroads. On the other side of the back injury which robbed him of 2024 and hampered much of 2025, can he once again get north of 8400?
The 2024 Olympic champion Markus Rooth (NOR) has not completed a decathlon since that incredible competition in Paris. In 2025, he was on track for a strong competition in Tokyo. He jumped a new pole vault best of 5.33m at the Fly Athens street jumps meet in Greece in July 2025. But a few weeks later, an accident while landing a vault resulted in injuries to his elbow and knee, and surgery followed. In 2026, Rooth has focused on discus competitions, where he has been close to 50m.
In some senses, Rooth has nothing to lose this season. He missed the European championships, the biggest platform of the season, and few will have expectations of him until the next major championships, Beijing in 2027. But Rooth, generally considered the most technically proficient of decathletes (all the more impressive given he is still only 24), is cautious, and does not compete unless he is ready. If he starts, he’s ready. So what are the potential milestones for Rooth?
Perhaps a solid 8400+, showing that he’s back in the game. A score of 8620 would bring qualification for Beijing and breathing space in 2027. Or perhaps, simply the top mark of the weekend by a Norwegian.
If Canada has lofty expectations of its decathletes, then Norway is in a similar position. Like Canada, Norway is home to a recent Olympic decathlon champion and 8900 decathlete, and they’re not even the same person.
In Rooth’s absence, the 2025 World Indoor champion Sander Skotheim (NOR) has been running riot, approaching 9000 points outdoors and demolishing Kevin Mayer’s European Record indoors. But a foot injury in training in January 2026 which required surgery took Skotheim out of Tallinn, Torun, and Götzis followed by an (unrelated) early exit in Ratingen.
Skotheim made it to Birmingham but was clearly still early on in the trajectory back to his best. A day one high jump of 2.05m put him at a disadvantage to the eventual gold and silver medallists, Leo Neugebauer and Niklas Kaul.
So while a European bronze medal with 8433 points just a few months after a serious injury is certainly not a disappointment, particularly given the current rude health of European decathlon, Skotheim will want a good mark to end the season, and is arguably the favourite for the decathlon.
An encore to Birmingham and Glasgow
Skotheim leads a brace of athletes in Talence this weekend who also competed in the European Championships.
At one point in Birmingham, Jeff Tesselaar (NED) looked like he might pull off the upset of the European Championships and upgrade his 2025 EU23 silver medal to a senior podium. He finished in fourth place with a PB of 8378, more than 100 points beyond his score at the start of the year. A brilliant 400m meant that Tesselaar kept himself in the top three for much longer than he would have expected, only dropping to fourth when Niklas Kaul picked up his javelin.
Behind Tesselaar Karel Tilga (EST) was fifth, Makenson Gletty (FRA) (who won Decastar in 2023) sixth, Amadeus Graeber (GER) eighth, 2025 European U23 champion Andrin Huber (SUI) ninth, Antoine Ferranti (FRA) tenth, Dario Dester (ITA) eleventh and Nino Portmann (SUI) fourteenth.
One milestone to look out for in the competition is Nino Portmann and 8000 points. The Swiss has been dancing around the magic mark all season: 7930 in Multistars, 7982 at the Swiss championships, 7947 in Poland and 7888 in Birmingham. Can he get there before the season ends?
Tesselaar’s Dutch teammate, 2024 Olympic fourth placer and national decathlon record holder Sven Roosen (NED), returned to top class competition after injury with a solid 8428 points in Götzis. That was his third best score of his career, but the step forward was cancelled by a step backward from an injury during a long jump competition, which caused him to miss the European championships. The extra few weeks may have given Roosen the opportunity to get himself back in shape for a big score.
Other than Warner, the only decathlete in Talence who competed in the Commonwealth Games is Jami Schlueter (NGR). Schlueter scored over 8000 points for the first time this year at the John Green Greatest Athlete meet in June and scored 7665 in Glasgow.
Schlueter is accompanied by his Goon Squad training partner, Devon Williams. It was at Decastar in 2023 when Williams, still on the way back from injury and with his own decathlon tanked due to a no-mark in discus, continued with the 1500m to help Makenson Gletty on his quest to achieve an Olympic qualifying score. Since then – and following a year away from the sport in the US army – Williams has scored over 8400 for the first time in his career, with 8402 in Ratingen this year.
Redemption is also on the agenda for Hakim McMorris (USA). After a huge PB and early world lead of 8420 at Mt SAC in April, McMorris fell in the hurdles in Götzis, when he had been in fourth place overnight.
His training partner Harrison Williams (USA) has been consistent in his decathlons this year, albeit 300 points or so below his best: 8325 in Götzis and 8345 in Ratingen.
And finally, a welcome Talence start for Tristan Marcy. The Frenchman’s season was halted indoors in Tallinn in February, when he injured himself badly in the pole vault. That took him out of action until the end of May, when he came back to action with a PB of 7763 in Montpellier. He is now on the hunt for the remaining 237 points which will take him to 8000.
Heptathletes of Glasgow and Birmingham
While the decathlon field is packed with Birmingham alumni, Decastar has brought just four athletes who competed in the European Championships heptathlon. That includes Beatrice Juskevicuite (LTU) who was tenth, Vanessa Grimm (GER) who was eleventh, and Lovisa Karlsson (SWE) who finished twelfth.
For the second year in succession, Juskevicuite won Mt SAC in April with a PB. In 2026 that best was 6323 points. She had a mishap during the hurdles in Götzis but returned to over 6300 with 6303 in Birmingham.
Grimm had a solid 6381 in Götzis, but struggled in Ratingen, before returning to score 6119 at the Europeans.
Karlsson has had an excellent season, beginning with a victory in Multistars in April. She then went on to score a lifetime best of 6218 in Poland and scored 6023 in Birmingham.
That group who competed in the European Championships also includes the 2024 Olympic bronze medallist Noor Vidts (BEL) who has been slowly feeling her way back into heptathlon in 2026 after missing most of 2025. She scored 6310 for ninth in Götzis, and 6286 points for eleventh place in Birmingham.
Three of the Commonwealth heptathlon field start in Talence, Ellen Barber (GBR), Niamh Emerson (GBR) and Maddie Wilson (NZL).
Barber has had a wonderful year, selected for the World Indoors in Torun, at which she improved her pentathlon lifetime best for the second time in the season. She then scored an outdoor PB of 6169 in Götzis and came within 55 points of the bronze medal in the pouring rain of Glasgow. Between the Commonwealth Games and Decastar Barber also got married, to fellow combined eventer James Finney.
Twenty-twenty-six was the year in which Niamh Emerson was able to put together a heptathlon without succumbing to injuries. She started with 5799 in Multistars and then got back over 6000 points in Glasgow. Prior to that, she had not completed a heptathlon since 2018.
Maddie Wilson has had a long and extraordinarily consistent season. She started way back in March with a victory at the New Zealand championships in a PB of 6059. She then came back with 6021 in Götzis, 5885 in Portugal and 6005 for fifth in Glasgow.
Breakthroughs and selection sagas
Away from the championships, one of the most exciting breakthroughs this season has been from Anna-Elisabeth Ehlers (GER), who just turned 20 in August. She came into the year with a best of 5690 and then proceeded to add over 500 points to that score, winning Arona in 6216. She followed that up with 6193 in Ratingen.
Mareike Roesing (GER) has her own breakthrough this season, enjoying her first score over 6000 points to place second in the German championships with 6105 behind Emma Kaul.
Marie Dehning (GER) had two good competitions earlier in the season, with a PB of 6180 in Götzis and 6143 in Ratingen.
The US champion Erin Marsh (USA) – now training with the Texas Goon Squad alongside Schlueter and Williams – had had a busy season despite a typical “off year” for US athletes. She started outdoors with 6104 in Mt SAC in April, improved to a PB of 6305 in Ratingen, and scored 6059 at the US championships.
This season has been a curious one for female French combined eventers. Strong for decathlon, with silver and close to 8000 points for Noemie Desailly at the world championships and a successful ten-event debut for Esther Conde-Turpin, but frustrating for heptathlon.
Conde-Turpin was not selected for the European championships despite being well qualified. Likewise, a place would have been available for Leonie Cambours (FRA) or Celia Perron (FRA) who were far enough up the rankings to take the final place in the field. However, that went to an athlete ranked below the Frenchwomen.
The French Federation is notoriously fickle in its selection process, and that camouflages the progress Cambours in particular has made this year, close to her PB with 6127 in Ratingen. Redemption feels the right way to describe this final competition of the year for Cambours and Perron. Perron scored 6057 at the French championships, the second-best score of her career.
Ysee Philippe (FRA) started her year with second place at the England indoor championships as a guest and went on to score a heptathlon PB of 6057 at the French championships. And completing the French contingent, how wonderful it is to see Elisa Pineau (FRA) back in action in heptathlon, after time out earlier this year to deal with breast cancer.
Sarah Lagger (AUT) comes to the meet with two scores just short of 6k, 5950 at the Austrian Championships and 5986 in Poland. Liana Truempi (SUI) scored 5751 in Götzis and 5906 at the Swiss Championships, while Linda Bichsel (SUI) enjoyed her first 6000+ score to win the national title in 6011. Myke van de Wiel (NED) closes her season in Talence after securing a lifetime best of 6029 in Ratingen.
The action starts on Friday 18th September and continues on Saturday, with both days running late into the evening and followed by festivities.
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