“I absolutely did not want it to blow up,” says Kevin Mayer after his retirement

Shortly after his abandonment in the first event of the decathlon – he cut his effort after 70 meters in the 100m series – at the European Athletics Championships in Munich, Kevin Mayer returned to the reasons for his abandonment at the microphone of France Televisions. “I absolutely didn’t want it to go bad. I’ve had this pain for three months before Eugene (the Worlds where he won last month, Ed). After the decathlon it tightened up and I chose a lot of rest and recovery. I tested last Thursday and I still had great pain. I spent four days doing non-stop careexplained the double world champion. It was such an incredible goal to achieve two medals in two championships in three weeks, that I wanted to give myself a chance to get there, regardless of the sensations. But, arriving at 50 meters, it got more and more tense. Above all, I don’t want to rest with an injury and have a debt for next year.»