News26 Jun 2009


Hardee holds slim four-point lead over Eaton at the halfway mark in Clay-less US Decathlon Champs, Day 1

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Trey Hardee competing in the 100m on the first day of the Decathlon at the 2009 USA Champs (© Getty Images)

Eugene, USAEven before the start of the Decathlon competition at the US Championships yesterday (25) - a competition which offers points scoring opportunities in the IAAF World Combined Events Challenge -  the focus suddenly shifted away from Bryan Clay and moved to Trey Hardee when the Olympic champion was forced to withdraw from competition due to a strained hamstring suffered on Tuesday (23). 

Given the procedure used by the US for selecting its teams for international competitions, this removes any chance for Clay to appear at the 12th IAAF World Championships in Athletics, Berlin, Germany (15– 23 Aug).

Clay had arrived in Eugene on Tuesday, and went to Hayward Field for a light training session after a five-hour automobile ride from Seattle.  While jogging on the long jump runway, Clay sensed some pain.  “I felt two little pops in my left hamstring.  I wasn’t right at the start of training.  It was on about my fourth sprint,” he explained.   

The severity of the injury was not immediately apparent to Clay.  “I didn’t feel bad at first.  But then I got back on the runway and felt tight.” 

“Time was not on my side with this injury,” Clay admitted.  “If this had happened a week ago, I could probably hobble through the two days and make the team, after which I would have six weeks to recover.”

“I came here with the feeling I was in mid-8600 shape,” he continued.  “I was quite surprised how quickly I recovered from the rigours of the Beijing Olympics.”

“My coaches and I will try to figure out the rest of the season,” he said with a air of resignation.  “My ultimate goals in the coming years are to get the world record indoors, as well as the world record outdoors.  And I’d like to be the only American to win medals at three Olympic Games [after silver in Athens and gold in Beijing].” 

“But for right now, my full support is behind Trey Hardee to represent the US well in Berlin in August.  I’ll be here at the stadium both days cheering him on.  He knows he has my complete backing.” 

Hardee rises to the challenge

Hardee, who finished second to Clay in last year’s US Olympic Trials, wasted no time in picking up the torch dropped into his lap by Clay.  The 25-year-old Texas resident exploded to a 10.43 in the 100 metres, aided by a 3.6 (but decathlon-legal) wind to lead the fifteen other competitors. 

Running close in Hardee’s heat was America’s top young prospect in the Decathlon, 21-year-old Oregon native Ashton Eaton, who won the last two NCAA Championships and who here clocked 10.53 to stay within 24 points of leader Hardee after the opening event. 

Following the leading pair at a distance were Joe Detmer (10.94) with 874 and Michael Marsh (10.96) at 870. 

The Long Jump is an event in which Hardee has significantly improved in the last year, but his 7.41 best attempt in the Decathlon’s second discipline - about 30cm off the consistent level of his last three competitions - gave Eaton a chance to jump into the overall lead with a 7.60w leap, the day’s best, for a 23-point advantage, 1928 to 1905. 

The top pair began to see their advantage grow over the field as Detmer held third with a 7.23 jump for an aggregate 1743, while Lysias Edmonds parlayed a 7.07 leap into a fourth-place total of 1691. 

Hardee regained his earlier advantage with a 14.38 throw in the Shot Put, his best in a decathlon since the 2006 Texas Relays.  The 752 points he earned pushed him to 2657, which, when juxtaposed with the 12.63 toss of Eaton for 2573, created a 84-point cushion for the Texan after three disciplines.   

A 14.69 effort was enough to catapult Jake Arnold from fifth into the all-important third spot with an overall 2431, as another newcomer to the top echelon, Chris Randolph, moved from seventh into fourth with 13.76—his second-best put ever—with a composite 2367.

Paul Terek led all shotputters with a 14.75 mark, but his 2319 total left him in seventh place. 

Hardee saw two-thirds of his lead vanish in the High Jump as he could manage only 1.99—and that on a bar-rattling third attempt.  All the while, Eaton pushed the bar up to 2.05 and came away from the fourth event trailing only by 28 at 3451 to 3423. 

The best jumper of the competition, Desi Burt, used a PB 2.17 to move into third place at 3250 while Arnold slipped to fourth with 3198 after a 1.96 best.  Randolph’s 2.02 allowed him to stay close in fifth with 3189.

The final event of the first day, the 400 metres, saw a dramatic tightening of the top scores.  After watching Hardee circle the stadium in 48.49, Eaton put on a dazzling display with a 47.99 in the final section to move within four points of the overall lead, 4337 to 4333. 

Burt’s 50.40 allowed him to barely hold third with 4046, just ahead of Detmer at 4044 after a one-lap 47.96 which led all competitors.  Randolph and Arnold, at 4036 and 4032, held fifth and sixth in a close four-man race for the third spot as the first day came to a close. 

Ed Gordon for the IAAF

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