Olympic and European heptathlon champion Nafissatou Thiam from Belgium and world decathlon record-holder Kevin Mayer from France have both accepted their invitations to compete at the Torun 2021 European Athletics Indoor Championships from 4-7 March.
The final entry-lists for the heptathlon and the pentathlon can be found in full here.
Thiam announced on her Instagram account she will take her place on the start-line in the 60m hurdles in a bid to retain the title she won four years ago in Belgrade, Serbia where she cleared a championship best of 1.96m in the high jump en route to the title with 4870 points.
And there is a possibility two Belgian athletes could reach the podium in the pentathlon. With Thiam yet to contest a pentathlon this season, the 2021 world list is headed by her compatriot Noor Vidts with an early season score of 4665 points.
The pentathlon line-up also features seasoned campaigners such as Ivona Dadic from Austria and Hungary’s Xenia Krizsan as well as the younger generation of multi-eventers including Holly Mills from Great Britain, Maria Vicente from Spain and 17-year-old Henriette Jeager from Norway who broke the world U18 heptathlon best last summer.
Like Thiam, Mayer won gold in Belgrade with a championships and European record of 6479 points in the heptathlon - a score that has only been surpassed by Ashton Eaton from the United States.
Reigning European indoor champion Jorge Urena from Spain will seek to defend his title and European U20 decathlon champion Simon Ehammer from Switzerland is also predicted to win his first senior medal in Torun.
Other standout entrants include Germany’s Kai Kazmirek and Poland’s Pawel Wiesiolek who won his domestic indoor title last weekend in Torun with a lifetime best of 6103 points, the best score achieved by any of the entrants so far in 2021.
The pentathlon takes place on 5 March with the heptathlon taking place on 6-7 March.