Bryan Clay (USA) rambled down the javelin runway on his first attempt and threw a PB 70.42 to all but claim the gold medal. But that wasn’t enough for the American, who added yet another 1½ metres with an easy-to-remember 72.00 on his second throw.
That, combined the mediocre throw of 63.21 by Roman Sebrle (CZE), put Clay 356 points ahead of the Czech with 8194 points. Sebrle’s nine-event total stands at 7838.
Clay aside, the top competitors threw the javelin in a rather narrow range, between 59 and 63 metres, and as a result, the top six placers did not change positions.
Sebrle accumulated some insurance points for the silver medal against Aleksandr Pogorelov (RUS), whose 59.79 throw put him 131 points behind the Czech at 7707.
At the same time, Kristjan Rahnu (EST) moved to within 45 points of a bronze medal with a 61.65 fling and an aggregate 7662.
A more likely candidate to overtake Pogorelov is Attila Zsivócky (HUN), whose 1500-metre capability is among the best of the front runners. The Hungarian threw 63.02 and stands in his customary fifth-place spot with 7655, only 52 points away from medal territory. With each second in the 1500 metres worth roughly seven points, Zsivócky would need to defeat Pogorelov by less than eight seconds to claim an award.
With a PB 61.74, Andre Niklaus (GER) held his sixth-place spot with 7564, ahead of Mikk Pahapill (EST) who moved from ninth to seventh after his 63.53 javelin produced a 7374 total.
