Mayer suffers long jump calamity in European decathlon

Mayer, who had sailed well beyond the leading mark with his last no-jump, put his hands on his head in despair after immediately realising his error.

Frenchman Kevin Mayer, hot favorite to win the decathlon title at the European Championships, blew his chances completely in the second of the 10 events on Tuesday when he fouled in all three of his long jump attempts.

The Olympic silver medallist was leading the competition to find Europe's top all-around athlete after a 10.64 seconds run in 100 meters before he made the inexplicable error which effectively rules him out of medal contention.

Having fouled his first two jumps in the Olympic Stadium, just a safe third would have sufficed for the 26-year-old but he again edged over the take-off board with an unnecessarily aggressive approach on his final attempt.

Mayer, who had sailed well beyond the leading mark with his last no-jump, put his hands on his head in despair after immediately realising his error.

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