Kevin Mayer in the heptathlon high jump at the IAAF World Indoor Championships Birmingham 2018 (© Getty Images)
Kevin Mayer may not have produced a lifetime best in the heptathlon high jump, like he did with his first three disciplines, but his 2.02m leap was by no means a disaster.
It was eight centimetres down on the PB he set en route to his European indoor heptathlon record last year, but keeps him on course for gold in Birmingham. And an improvement on his record score of 6479 isn’t out of the question.
Canada’s 2015 world silver medallist Damian Warner maintained his runner-up spot after clearing an indoor PB of 2.02m, the same height as Mayer.
But Maicel Uibo increased the pressure on Warner’s place in the overall standings. The Estonian was the last man jumping and he eventually got over 2.17m to move from eighth to third on the heptathlon table.
His leap up in the standings bumped down a handful of the other contenders. Germany’s world bronze medallist Kai Kazmirek managed 2.05m, the second-best jump of the day, but slipped to fourth overall behind Uibo. Oleksiy Kasyanov and Zach Ziemek both jumped 2.02m but dropped to fifth and sixth respectively.
Dominik Distelberger and Eelco Sintnicolaas jumped 1.93m and 1.90m respectively, but can be expected to make up ground in the pole vault tomorrow.
This event marked the end of the road for Grenadian brothers Kurt Felix and Lindon Victor. Felix was a non-starter while Victor was unable to clear his opening height of 1.96m.
Jon Mulkeen for the IAAF
