Hyleas Fountain crusing to a 200m victory in the US championships Heptathlon (© Getty Images)
Olympic Silver medallist Hyleas Fountain is the overnight leader after the first day (25) of action in Heptathlon at the USA Outdoor Track & Field Championships in Eugene, Oregon.
Propelled by strong performances in the 100m Hurdles and 200m, Fountain, 30, tallied 3706 points to lead Sharon Day by 43 points after the first four events. Fountain was the outright winner in the sprint hurdles, clocking 13.17 for 1099 points, well ahead of the next fastest, Bettie Wade, who stopped the clock in 13.68. But sub-par performances in both the High Jump (1.72m) and Shot Put (12.97m), before closing out the day with a 23.77 dash in the 200m, allowed both Day and Bettie Wade to remain within striking distance.
Day, who was 10th at the 2009 World Championships, cleared 1.81m in the High Jump and reached a near-PB 13.51m in the Shot Put before rounding out her day with a 24.74 dash, to tally 3663 points.
Aiming to make up for her struggles in the High Jump and Shot Put, Fountain said she was particularly focused on closing out the day on a high hoot.
“Oh definitely, I went in there. I just had to focus on myself. I knew if I tried to get out as hard as I could, and stay in front, I could really run a decent time. I just had to believe in myself just so I could finish.”
Wade, 24, is sitting in third place with 3637 points, just 26 behind Day.
Bob Ramsak for the IAAF
