Ryan Harlan of the USA in the Shot Put Decathlon (© Getty Images)
Daegu, Korea - With the pattern of the competition finally starting to settle down after the first of the power events, defending champion Trey Hardee assumed the mantle as overall leader.
Hardee, the defending champion, produced a solid best of 15.09m (795pts) switching places with Eaton into the gold medal position and with a three-event points total of 2680 he holds a slender 15pts lead over his compatriot.
Yet it was not a totally satisfying competition for the American, who unsuccessfully disputed with officials what appeared a marginal foul with his second attempt. He opened with a 15.09m before precisely matching that mark with his final effort. With a personal best of 15.94m (indoors) he may feel a little frustrated.
Despite the reversal in his position there is genuine reason to believe Eaton will be the happier of the two Americans. His first round effort of 14.44m was within 0.30m behind his lifetime best – and he will go into this evening’s High Jump and 400m optimistic he will hold an overall lead at the end of the first day.
Oleksiy Kasyanov of Ukraine holds on to third overall courtesy of a season’s best 14.43m. He has a three-event total score of 2629pts.
Behind it was all change as Russia’s Aleksey Drozdov elevated himself from 16th to fourth overall thanks to an impressive best effort of 16.17m. The second longest throw of the competition leaves the World Indoor Heptathlon bronze medallist sitting handily on 2570pts.
Former World Junior champion Jan Felix Knobel also made his mark with a personal best of 16.06m (855pts) catapulting the German from joint 17th to fifth overall.
The third string American Ryan Harlan also made an impact producing the longest throw of the event. A 16.49m effort earned him 882pts, although he is still back in 23rd overall on 2418.
Do not ignore World silver medallist Leonel Suarez, who is progressing nicely. The Cuban who has a much more powerful second day set a season’s best of 14.54m in the shot. He now stands 12th overall with 2499pts and should feature more prominently tomorrow.
Steve Landells for the IAAF
