American takes decathlon
HELSINKI, Finland – Bryan Clay looks too small to be the “world’s greatest athlete.” Tianna Madison seems too young to be a world champion.
Both Americans were triumphant, though, on a cold, wet and windy Wednesday night at the world track and field championships.
Clay, at 5-foot-11 dwarfed by his mammoth opponents, defeated Olympic champion and world record holder Roman Sebrle of the Czech Republic, 8,732 points to 8,521, to win the gold medal in the decathlon, 10 events completed in awful weather over two days.
Madison, a 19-year-old junior-to-be at Tennessee, soared to a personal-best 22-7 1/4 on her next-to-last attempt to win the women’s long jump. Olympic bronze medalist Tatyana Kotova was second at 22-3 1/2 . Eunice Barber of France, heptathlon silver medalist in Helsinki, was third with a wind-aided 22-2 1/4 .
The two victories, and Sanya Richards’ second-place finish in the 400 meters, gave the United States nine medals through five days of competition – six gold and three silver.
Clay, Olympic silver medalist in Athens, kept the world decathlon title in American hands, replacing Tom Pappas, who won it in Paris in 2003 and is injured this year.
“Bryan is truly a special athlete,” fellow U.S. decathlete Phil McMullen said. “He’s short, composed, with extreme explosiveness and with extreme intelligence to really grasp all the events – in heated competitions.”
For Clay, though, the victory was not his biggest event of the summer. He was there for the birth of his son Jacob on July 1.
“I helped deliver the baby and everything. That was probably the most exciting moment of my life,” Clay said. “This is a somewhat close second.”
Training at his alma mater, Azusa Pacific near Los Angeles, Clay hasn’t received the worldwide attention afforded Pappas and Sebrle, but that should change with his victory.
“I know that it doesn’t sound like it, I really don’t mind not having the recognition,” he said. “I’m kind of one of those guys that likes to come out, do my job, go home and be with my family. I can’t tell you how much I want to just pack everything up and go home and be with them.”
Two years ago, in Elyria, Ohio, Madison was a high school sensation, becoming only the third prep athlete to win four individual events at the state championships four years in a row. One of the other two was Jesse Owens.
Madison burst onto the national scene this year, winning the NCAA indoor and outdoor championships.
She was in third place when she uncorked her big jump. A foul on her previous attempt gave her confidence.
“Because it was so far, I knew I could just get a better jump and not foul,” she said.
Richards faded down the stretch and finished second to Olympic gold medalist Tonique Darling-Williams of the Bahamas, who won in 49.55 seconds. Richards finished in 49.74, followed by defending champion Ana Guevara of Mexico in 49.81.
With four-time defending champion Hicham El Guerrouj not competing in the 1,500, Moroccan-born Rashid Ramzi, running for Bahrain, won in 3:37.88.
The biggest cheers in Olympic Stadium came in the javelin, where Finland hoped for a medal. But Tero Pitkamaki disappointed them with a fourth-place finish. Andrus Varnik of Estonia won at 286-0.
Because of the weather, the women’s pole vault was postponed until Friday.