(MENAFN- The Peninsula) The Peninsula
France's Kevin Mayer has donated the kit he wore when setting the world record for the decathlon to the IAAF Heritage Collection, which is currently on public display for six months in Doha, Qatar.
Mayer, the reigning world decathlon and world indoor heptathlon champion, set the world record with a 9126 points total at the Decaster meeting in Talence, France, on September 16, 2018.
That performance surpassed the 9045pts which USA's Ashton Eaton had established at the 2015 IAAF World Athletics Championships in Beijing. On his way to breaking Eaton's record, Mayer set personal bests in five events.
The kit which Mayer has donated is made up of the bodysuit which he wore in the long jump, his 1500m spikes and two bib numbers (name and ‘leader').
The donation was recently symbolically handed over at the IAAF Heritage World Athletics Championships Exhibition in the City Center Doha shopping mall.
The recipient of Mayer's kit was Mubarak Al-Sulaiti, a 15-year-old Qatari athlete, who competed for Qatar at the U18 Gulf Cooperation Council Athletics Championships. Al Sulaiti is training to be a combined eventer at the world renowned Aspire Academy, under the watchful coaching eyes of Martin Brockman and Rudolf Sopko.
'Last September I created my own piece of global athletics history but as is the fate of all world records it will be beaten commented Mayer, who returns to Decaster, Talence next weekend.
'I'm therefore really delighted that my bodysuit and spikes will be preserved so the record will not be forgotten. I hope displaying the kit in public helps to inspire young athletes around the world like Mubarak to set their ambitions high and pursue their dreams as I have done.
Decaster, which is a member of the IAAF Combined Events Challenge, was recently honoured with the award of an IAAF World Athletics Heritage Plaque.
The exhibition in which Mayer's kit is on display, was opened on April 18 by IAAF President Sebastian Coe and Dahlan Al Hamad, IAAF Vice President and Director General of the Doha World Championships local organising committee.
The exhibition is situated in the City Center Doha, the largest shopping mall in Qatar and will be open to the public until October 7, one day after the close of the Doha World Championships (September 27 to October 6).
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