Olympic decathlon champion Damian Warner in Tokyo (© Getty Images)
The Olympic gold medal club is exclusive but not nearly as rarefied as the 9000-point club in the decathlon and Canada’s Damian Warner earned his membership of both over two brilliant days of competition in Tokyo.
Until Thursday (5), only three men in history had topped 9000 points across the 10 events – world record-holder Kevin Mayer (9126), London and Rio Olympic champion Ashton Eaton (9045) and Roman Sebrle (9026).
Warner became the fourth with a collective score of 9018, an Olympic record that placed him in the pantheon of combined event athletes.
Nafi Thiam is already there. The great Belgian heptathlete claimed her second Olympic gold medal tonight (6791 points), joining Jackie Joyner-Kersee as the only women who have won the Olympic heptathlon title twice.
The world’s greatest all-around athletes were put through an even more rigorous examination than usual across two sometimes ferociously hot and humid days but they rose to the challenge admirably.
Warner began as he intended to continue, equalling his decathlon world best of 10.12 in the 100m, then setting a long jump mark of 8.24m (which would have won the bronze medal in the individual event) to establish a substantial lead on the field on the first day.
He did not let up today, his final score including marks of 13.46 for the 110m hurdles, 48.67m for the discus, 4.90m for the pole vault and 63.44m for the javelin, at which point he led the field by more than 300 points. With victory all but secure he set off after the points goal in the closing 1500m race.
In the process, he also defeated Mayer, who was competing with a back injury but still accumulated 8726 points to take the silver medal, less than 100 points clear of world U20 champion Ashley Moloney (8649), who broke through at senior level to earn the bronze medal, Australia’s first ever medal in this event.
Warner, 31, said finishing in the bronze medal position behind Eaton and Mayer in Rio five years ago lit a fire inside him that could only be quenched by victory here.
“I used that experience of 2016 to propel me to this performance," he said.
Moloney, just 21, was in second place through the first eight events, courtesy of his outstanding sprinting and jumping, but was overtaken by Mayer in the javelin when the Frenchman hurled the spear 73.09m, more than 15 metres further than Moloney’s best.
In contrast to Warner, Thiam had to battle throughout the two days. She was in 15th place after the opening 100m hurdles, but her 1.92m high jump brought her to the front of the pack. The Belgian stayed in the top three over the next three events but was second behind Dutchwoman Anouk Vetter going into the sixth event, the javelin, when she took the lead for good with a throw of 54.68m.
Vetter held on to second place (6689) ahead of her compatriot Emma Oosterwegel (6590).
An emotional Thiam, who has struggled with injuries in recent years, said this was a very different experience from her first Olympic triumph in Rio.
“The first day was difficult for me but I refocused on the second day and knew I had to do something really good in the long jump and the javelin," she said. “In the 800m I thought I could do a bit better but what counts the most is the medal, and I got it.”
Reigning world champions have generally not fared well in Tokyo but Steven Gardiner was another exception, adding the Olympic title to his Doha title in the 400m.
Gardiner ran a mature race, refusing to panic when he stumbled out of the blocks and the USA's Michael Norman took off like a startled gazelle and gapped the field in the first 100m. Gardiner gradually reeled him in down the back straight and piled on the pressure with 150m to go, taking the lead as he entered the straight.
All the contenders came at him down the long straight to the finish line, but Gardiner held them off to win in 43.85, becoming the first Bahamian man to win an individual gold medal.
"At my first Olympics (Rio 2016) I didn't make the final but I think here in Tokyo I did what needed to be done," he said. “It is unreal. I don't think I will sleep tonight.”
Anthony Zambrano became the first Colombian man to win an Olympic athletics medal, taking the silver (44.08) just ahead of Grenada’s Kirani James (44.19), who now has a full set of Olympic medals in this event, after winning gold in 2012 and silver in 2016.
In the women’s pole vault, Katie Nageotte upset the world champion Anzhelika Sidorova, triumphing with a 4.90m clearance that no-one else in the field could match.
The medallists were decided at 4.85m, which Nageotte, Sidorova and Holly Bradshaw all cleared at the first attempt, but the colour of the precious medal was still up in the air.
At 4.90m, Sidorova and Bradshaw had two misses but Nageotte soared over the bar at her second attempt to take command of the competition.
Bradshaw elected to take her third attempt but clattered the bar, which left her with the bronze medal.
Sidorova passed her final attempt and moved the bar up to 4.95m in an attempt to get back in front of Nageotte but her first miss at that height sealed her fate and secured the gold medal for the American.
Nageotte burst into tears and ran up into the grandstand to hug her coach. She had the option of continuing to jump and lifted the bar to 5.01m but realised on the runway that the gold medal was all she wanted tonight.
She ran through the mat without attempting to jump and turned to wave and smile at her supporters.
"This is the biggest dream I have ever had for myself, and here I am living the dream," she said.
Over in Sapporo, shortly before the evening session started in Tokyo, Italy's Massimo Stano won the men's 20km race walk while hosts Japan picked up their first athletics medals of the Games with Koki Ikeda and Toshikazu Yamanishi taking silver and bronze.
Stano had been in the chase pack for most of the race, waiting for long-time leader Wang Kaihua to be reeled in, which eventually happened at about 13km. Stano then bided his time for a few more kilometres until attempting a break in the closing stages. Ikeda and world champion Yamanishi were the only ones to go with him, but their challenges eventually faded as the Italian went on to cross the line in 1:21:05 to win by nine seconds from Ikeda. Yamanishi took bronze in 1:21:28.
In tonight’s qualifying events, the men’s 1500m semifinals were surprisingly quick as world champion Tim Cheruiyot and Australian contender Stewart McSweyn drove the pace in their respective races to burn off the sit-and-kick specialists. Among the casualties was the Rio Olympic champion Matt Centrowitz.
Briton Jake Wightman won the first semifinal in 3:33.48, from US college star Cole Hocker in a personal best of 3:33.87 and Cheruiyot (3:33.95). Australia’s Ollie Hoare (3:34.35) and Spain’s Ignacio Fontes (3:34.49) also progressed.
McSweyn set up a fast pace in the second semi-final but Kenya’s Abel Kipsang was the main beneficiary, flying home to set an Olympic record of 3:31.65. He was closely followed by European champion Jakob Ingebrigtsen (3:32.13), Briton Josh Kerr (3.32.18) and Spain’s Adel Mechaal (3:32.19), with McSweyn in fifth (3:32.54) the last automatic qualifier for Saturday’s final.
In a rare piece of good relay news for the US team, their women’s 4x400m team was comfortably the fastest qualifier for Saturday night’s final, setting the pace with 3:20.86, ahead of Jamaica (3:21.95), Poland (3:23.10) and Great Britain (3:23.99). The Netherlands with a 3:24.01 national record, Cuba (3:24.04), Canada (3:24.05) and Belgium (3:24.08 NR) also progressed.
Nicole Jeffery for World Athletics
