Monte-Carlo - Czech Roman Sebrle and Carolina Klüft of Sweden are the winners of the 2004 IAAF World Combined Events Challenge and the prize of 30,000$US each. The standings were calculated after the completion of the final qualification competition, the Decaster meeting in Talence, France last weekend (25 / 26 Sep).

The outcome of the Challenge which was based on points accumulated at any three of this year’s nine qualifying competitions saw the winners of the recent Olympic Games, the penultimate event of the series, take the year long Challenge titles too.

In the men’s standing, 29 year-old Roman Sebrle who also won the World Indoor Heptathlon title in Budapest last March, finished the Challenge to claim the 30,000$US prize with a total of 25,952pts (average 8650.7). This figure was composed of his winning performances in Gotzis (8842pts), Athens Olympics (8893pts), and Talence (8217pts).

Sebrle, the World record holder, had finished second in last year’s edition of the Challenge behind World champion Tom Pappas but because of a foot injury in Athens the American could not complete three Decathlons this year to follow-up on his good marks in Gotzis (8732) and the USA Champs (8517).

Finishing second in the 2004 Challenge was another American Bryan Clay, the Olympic silver medallist, with a total of 25,602 (average 8534.0), which in the process claimed 20,000$US. Completing a replica of the Athens podium, the Olympic bronze medallist Dmitriy Markov of Kazakstan finished third (25336; average 8445.3) and so won 15,000$US.

The always bubbly 21 year-old Swede Carolina Klüft was the dominant winner of the women’s Heptathlon Challenge, a title which she also took last year following on from her World championships victory in Paris.

In 2004, the Swedish Olympic champion amassed a total of 20541 points (average 6847.0), thanks to wins in Gotzis (6820), Tallinn (European Cup - 6769), and the Athens OIympics (6952) to claim her 30,000$US reward.

The surprise package of the year was Britain’s Kelly Sotherton who finished in second spot in the Challenge (20,000$US) thanks to a total of 19,072 (average 6357.3), which included her bronze medal finish in the Olympics and a win last weekend in Talence.

Some way back was third placer Nataliya Dobrynska of Ukraine whose 18,825 total (average 6275.0) secured third place and a prize of 15,000$US.

Prize money in both the men’s and women’s categories descended down to eighth place accordingly – 4th 10,000, 5th 8000, 6th 7000, 7th 6000, and 8th 5000.

Overall, 17 men and 23 women competitors amassed scores in three or more Challenge events this year, as compared to 11 men and 14 women in 2003.

IAAF