PARIS, Sept. 17 (Xinhua) -- World champion Kevin Mayer of France broke the decathlon world record with 9126 points at the Decastar meeting in Talence, a suburb of Bordeaux, France on Sunday.
Mayer improved American athlete Ashton Eaton's previous record by 81 points.
The Frenchman's achievement arrived on the same day as Kenyan Eliud Kipchoge clocked a world record time of 2:01:39 at the Berlin Marathon.
Mayer started Sunday's action with a tally of 4563 points, 140 behind Eaton's total score when the latter set the world record three years ago at the IAAF World Championships in Beijing.
However, the reigning world outdoor and indoor champion made Eaton's record more and more vulnerable with his strong performance in the 110m hurdles, discus, pole vault and javelin on the second day.
He needed to finish in four minutes and 49 seconds in the final event of the 1,500m to smash Eaton's record, and made that run in 4:36 to tally 9126 points.
"I've been waiting for this moment for a long time. We live for moments like this that are simply incredible," Mayer said.
With the new world record, Mayer made huge amends for his woeful loss at last month's European Championships in Berlin due to three fouls in the long jump.
"I couldn't cry. I don't have any more tears left because I was crying so much before the 1,500m," he added.
