Bryan Clay fell 59 points short of breaking the American record in the decathlon Monday night, but his experience in Eugene told him he’s ready to break the world record.
Before Clay even started the final event of the decathlon, he had the 15th-best score in the world this year. He bounced back from a disappointing first day to come within nine seconds of Dan O’Brien’s 1992 standard, scoring 8,832 points. It is the best score in the world this year by 328 points.
“I am ready to break the world record. There’s no doubt in my mind that I’m ready to break the American record and the world record,” Clay said. “It’s just a matter of time at this point.”
He’ll have until August 21 to put all ten events together for his record attempt.
He won Monday despite setting only two personal bests on the second day.
Collegiate record holder Trey Hardee and defending U.S. champion Tom Pappas finished second and third with 8,534 and 8,511 points, respectively. It is Hardee’s first Olympic team, and Pappas’ third, the first decathlete in U.S. history to ever make three straight Olympic teams.
“This is really the only thing left,” Hardee said, “and in my career I feel like what’s missing is a good Olympic games.”
Pappas, a Lane Community College alumnus from Azalea, Ore., was fifth in Sydney and did not finish in Athens due to a foot injury.
Oregon sophomore Ashton Eaton scored a personal best 8,132 points to take fifth place, eight points behind fourth-place finisher Jake Arnold.
Per his reserved style, Clay ran a personal best in his first event of the day, the 110m hurdles, but you wouldn’t have known it by his reserved expression. Hardee scored 1,012 points by winning the 110m hurdles in a lifetime best of 13.71. Clay’s personal best of 13.75 yielded third place overall.
Oregon’s Ashton Eaton finished fifth in his heat in 14.26, hitting three of his first four hurdles, a shaky start to an otherwise positive day.
“I just went out and wanted to have fun today,” Eaton said.
Hardee, Clay and Pappas, the three expected to make the U.S. Olympic team from the beginning, stayed in the top three through the next event, the discus. Clay set another best in throwing 173-0, almost 11 whole feet better than second place.
Clay’s first-round throw set a Hayward Field decathlon record.
It was the same story in the javelin, where Clay threw under his best but still won by almost 11 feet, throwing 231-5.
While he was disappointed with his clearance of 16-4.75 in the pole vault, Pappas and Eaton cleared personal bests to score two of the three highest heights in the competition. Pappas cleared 17-0.75 for 972 points. Eaton’s second flight winning height of 16-8.75 was the third time he’d bettered his previous best in the pole vault on the day.
It was one of the “ups” for Pappas on an inconsistent day.
“That’s how it was yesterday too, just kind of one good event, one not so good,” Pappas said.
Competing in front of sparse crowds throughout most of the all-day competition, the 1,500m was run under the lights and in front of 20,949 fans, the newest Hayward Field record for spectators. Still excited from the all-Oregon men’s 800m team, the crowd tried, unsuccessfully, to summon Clay to the record in the final 400m, needing a time of 4:41, when his personal best is 4:38.93
His legs weren’t going to let him do it, however.
“I was on pace through about 1,110 meters and then I tried to get it going and I just had nothing left in my legs,” Clay said.
The American team for Beijing now holds the top three scores in the world this year. Like a number of winners already, Clay was making predictions for the Olympic Games.
“I think it’s very, very possible that we could come home with the sweep,” he said.
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