The Almighty must be a decathlon fan, judging from the way the heavy rains suddenly ceased moments before the event-ending 1500 metres.
Be it on a wet or a dry track, Bryan Clay (USA) was not going to be denied the gold medal tonight in the ten-eventer. Even in finishing last by jogging 5:03.77 in the concluding 1500 metres, the American scored a total of 8732 for a victory margin of 211 over the 8521 total amassed by the man who had defeated him for the Olympic title a year ago, Roman Sebrle (CZE).
Clay’s total was also the world’s best in the decathlon this season.
It was the widest victory in a World Championship decathlon since Dan O’Brien’s first of three consecutive wins 14 years ago in the Tokyo championships, and it followed the victory two years ago in Paris by another American, Tom Pappas.
For Clay, at age 25 a relative newcomer to the event with only three previous seasons of international competition, tonight’s performance was second only to the total from Athens in his lifetime dossier. But the inclement conditions under which he was forced to perform here spoke loudly about his tenacity and sheer grit.
Personal bests in the shot put and the 400 metres on that hurricane-like first day led to a halfway total only 27 points under his compilation midway through his Olympic performance.
The knockout blow came earlier today in the javelin, in which the American bettered his previous career best by more than two metres. After all of that, perhaps Clay could be forgiven for strolling his metric mile.
“It’s always great to beat the king,” exclaimed Clay at the end, paying homage to the current Olympic champion and world-record holder Sebrle. “Many events could have gone wrong today, but everything went my way. I have been second twice, with Roman finding a way to win [at Olympics and 2004 World Indoors]. Now I have learned from him how to do it myself!”
For Sebrle, tonight’s total was not even inside the top ten of his career. But the Czech gave it his all, running 4:39.54 at the end. Now 30, the opportunities for him to add a World Championships gold are seemingly waning as a younger group of athletes are making their presence known.
The Czech didn’t fret over his failure to win tonight. “I feel that after two days, I have won the silver rather than having lost the gold. Bryan was just too strong.”
With the top two places virtually decided before the final event, the anticipation lay in the assignment of the bronze medal, which ultimately ended in the hands of Attila Zsivóczky (HUN). The training partner of Sebrle and a fine practitioner of the 1500, the 28-year-old Zsivóczky stayed near the front during the entire run and ended with 4:32.17, the fifth-best time of the field. The men he needed to beat by at least eight seconds—Kristjan Rahnu (EST) and Aleksandr Pogorelov (RUS)—finished only slightly ahead of Clay.
“When I crossed the line I was looking for Pogorelov, but I could not see him,” Zsivóczky remarked. “It took me a few seconds to realize where he was, and only then could I relax. The only reason I was worried [going into the 1500] was that I could feel that I had the [bronze] medal within reach, but that I should be careful not to lose it.”
The Hungarian’s medal, won with a total of 8385 points, is not the first international award in the family. His father, Gyula Zsivóczky, was the hammer champion at the Mexico City Olympics in 1968.
Sebrle and Zsivóczky were hosted by Clay in California last April for a three-week training camp. Perhaps the Europeans were unknowingly being scouted by the American during that time. Regardless, the handshakes and embraces by all of the competitors at the end demonstrated what a close-knit fraternity these men form.
With 22-year-old Frédéric Xhonneux (BEL) winning the 1500 in 4:22.71, the next man to cross the line was Andre Niklaus (GER). The 23-year-old German’s 4:28.93 was enough to pull him up from sixth to fourth at the end with a final total of 8316, a PB by 123 points.
Slipping two places because of their performances in the 1500 were Pogorelov and Rahnu, who ended fifth and sixth with respective scores of 8246 and 8223.
Tomás Dvorák (CZE), a past three-time winner, finished eighth with 8068, just behind the 8087 total of Romain Barras (FRA) in seventh.
