If the women’s heptathlon offered us a clear favourite for the gold medal, then the World Championships’ men’s decathlon feels much more like a “pick’n’mix” selection, where multiple combinations of athletes might grace the podium.
The field includes multiple athletes who have personal bests approaching 9000 points, for whom a bad day in a decathlon would still yield a mark of 8600. There are several 8700+ performers, who have a grander score within reach, and would expect to be biting at the heels of the top scorers on the all-time lists. Just behind them lurks a pack of athletes around 8500-8600, both established and improved, circling and ready to pounce at any opportunity which presents itself.
Results over the last few years have been a revolving door too, with established names struggling or scoring well below their capability, and others stepping up to claim the top spots on the podium for the first time.
The defending champion Pierce LePage of Canada has suffered a challenging back injury since his victory in Budapest, where he scored 8909 points. He returned tentatively this year at Götzis with a goal simply to finish the ten events, but a fall in the hurdles caused him to withdraw. His teammate, 2021 Olympic champion Damian Warner has had peaks and troughs since his victory here in Tokyo during the Covid games, and unfortunately a recent achilles injury means he is a last- minute withdrawal from the competition.
It seems, though, that Norway is the new Canada in decathlon. Olympic champion Markus Rooth injured himself landing in pole vault a few weeks ago and won’t compete in Tokyo, but his teammate Sander Skotheim has had a sensational season so far. He started by breaking Kevin Mayer’s European indoor heptathlon record in Tallinn in February and then extending it further when winning gold in the European Indoors in Apeldoorn. He won world indoor gold in Nanjing too.
With some of the demons from a pole vault no-height in Paris exorcised, Skotheim moved outdoors. What followed in Götzis was a spectacular example of a “revenge PB,” as the Norwegian bounced back from his Olympic disappointment with a world lead of 8909 points. He’s had a small injury since then but looks ready to return to challenge for gold in Tokyo.
The other star of the outdoor season thus far has been USA’s Kyle Garland. The talented US decathlete has been in the shadows since his breakthrough performance of 8720 in 2022, and his 6639 heptathlon (just six points short of Ashton Eaton’s world record) in 2023. Hugely underappreciated and often overlooked, Garland finally returned to stellar form in Götzis with 8869 behind Skotheim, positioning himself alongside the Norwegian as one of the favourites for gold in Tokyo.
While Garland worked his way back to the big scores, the limelight over the last few years has been embraced by on his former NCAA rival Leo Neugebauer of Germany. Neugebauer’s improvement of the German decathlon record, ultimately to 8961, erased Juergen Hingsen from the top of his country’s all-time lists and he won silver at the Olympic Games behind Rooth. Neugebauer’s best this year has been 8555. If 8900+ Leo shows up, then he has a brilliant shot at gold. If 8555 Leo shows up, there are plenty of others who might make a medal difficult for him.
Another athlete working his way through historic national records in Johannes Erm of Estonia. Erm won gold at the European Championships in Rome in 2024, scoring 8764 and moving to second on the Estonian all-time list behind Erki Nool’s 8815.
He had brought a brilliant challenge to Skotheim and Simon Ehammer at the world indoor championships in Glasgow in 2024, and he repeated that effort at the European Indoor championships in Apeldoorn in early 2025. The Estonian broke Nool’s national record at that competition, scoring 6380, but that wasn’t enough to make the medals, as Germany’s Till Steinforth took bronze while breaking Neugebauer’s German national record.
But Erm is nothing if not stubborn, and he went to the World Indoors in Nanjing, broke the record again with 6437, and won the silver medal on the bigger stage. Outdoors, Erm had a modest result in Decastar, placing second with 8236. He’s had a troubled season this far, so it remains to be seen where he can return to the 8700+ atmosphere. If he can, he’s a contender.
The Decastar winner in 2025 was Ayden Owens-Delerme of Puerto Rico, another former NCAA rival of Garland and Neugebauer. He scored 8478 in France, similar to his 8486 in Götzis a few weeks earlier. At his best Owens-Delerme is an 8700+ athlete, and hopefully the few months since the early summer meets have provided him with the opportunity to return to that form.
The Olympic and world bronze medallist Lindon Victor is the stealth candidate in Tokyo. He withdrew in Götzis after three events and hasn’t finished a decathlon this year. But the Grenadian is now increasingly comfortable in the 8700+ zone, with his PB of 8756 from Budapest and 8711 from Paris. He’s rumoured to have had some very good test events recently, so the fresh faces won’t have it all their own way if Lindon is in form.
Alongside Garland, Heath Baldwin and Harrison Williams are the US athletes in the field. Both are 8600+ athletes, both capable of being in the mix at the serious end of a decathlon, but both also with a modest start to the year. Baldwin scored just over 8400 in Götzis and the US championships, and Williams a best of 8223 at the US trials.
Next, we have a cluster of strong Europeans. Simon Ehammer of Switzerland was just centimetres away from a second medal in the world long jump final and devastated at missing out. But this is not the first time the Swiss has found himself disappointed, and he is very good at channelling his frustration and disappointment into the next target in his sights. Stuck at 8400 for a few years, Ehammer had another breakthrough this year and scored 8575 in Götzis, finishing equal third with Niklas Kaul.
Kaul, the 2019 world champion, has had his own high spots this season too, improving his 100m best to 11.12s. His PB of 8691, set in Doha, is long overdue for an upgrade and the German seems hopeful that he can be a contender for another world medal this weekend.
Sven Roosen of the Netherlands had a brilliant 2024, scoring a big PB of 8500+ in Götzis and then finishing just outside the medals in Paris with 8600. The Dutchman has had a long period of injury this year, so hasn’t competed in a decathlon, but has used the time out well to improve his discus and pole vault. A fit and healthy Roosen will, as in the Olympics, be a medal threat.
Estonians Karel Tilga and Janek Õiglane have had low key seasons. Tilga scored 8405 in Götzis but has had illness over the summer, and Õiglane hasn’t competed at all yet this year. But both are excellent championships competitors, and with their 8681 and 8572 respective PBs, if competitive they will be dangerous.
Finally, among the big Europeans, European championships bronze medallist Makenson Gletty of France makes a very welcome comeback. His best this year has been a tentative 8258, but Mak at his best is over 8600.
Among the rest of the field, Kendrick Thompson of the Bahamas has had a bizarre route to the World Championships. He was badly injured in a fishing accident at home last year, sporting a gash to his head where he was hit by a boat. He was then bitten by a shark while fishing (scar also visible on request). None of that got in the way of him returning to form with 8177 this year, close to his lifetime best of 8182. But that wasn’t the end of the drama.
Competing at the NACAC championships a few weeks ago, in a field of only three, Kendrick was having a great competition with talented US decathlete Austin West.
I shall save for another time a diatribe on the awarding of GL points and a protected area place to an area championships that can only muster a field of three in a decathlon from the northern half of the Americas and didn’t even hold a heptathlon this year.
Anyway, on track for a good score and some handy bonus points to boost his ranking position, the Bahamian managed to get himself disqualified from the 1500m and ended with no score. But happily – and there’s no argument that Kendrick deserves some luck – his ranking position was strong enough and Thompson made the field.
Till Steinforth will be looking to translate his indoor success to an improvement of his 8287 decathlon best, and he has scored 8265 so far this year. Czech duo Ondrej Kopecky and Vilem Strasky have been in good form this season, Kopecky with 8254 and Strasky with a PB of 8136. Belgium’s Jente Hauttekeete will be competing in his first senior global competition, also in good shape and approaching his 8268 PB.
While Brazil’s Jose Fernando Ferreira Santana has not been in top form – just 7897, while capable of 8268 – the South American champion loves a big stage and should have a good competition.
Japan’s Yuma Maruyama – some time training partner of Saga Vanninen under Erki Nool – was unlucky not to make his home championships, with a DNF in the Asian championships which would have given him a protected place. That instead went to Xiang Fei of China, who will enjoy his first global championships and seek to improve his PB of 7785.
Likewise, EU23 gold and silver medallists Andrin Huber and Jeff Tesselaar were unlucky not to make the field, but bronze medallist Antoine Ferranti’s breakthrough score of 8221 in Arona and reflection in rankings ensured he made the cut, and he completes the line up.
By Gabby Pieraccini
All photos by Gabby Pieraccini
