Olympic decathlon champion Bryan Clay competes in the 60m during the men's heptathlon in Doha (© Getty Images)
The men’s Heptathlon competition got off to a great start with defending champion Bryan Clay grabbing a commanding win in 6.67s, a season’s best in the first event, the 60 metres.
The American was a clear winner, too, emerging with a big lead at half way and won with a surprisingly clear margin for another US favourite Trey Hardee, who won the Decathlon in Berlin last year.
The race got off to a start following a false start by Russian Aleksey Drozdov, but the Americans had no problems with the second start and thundered to the lead. Hardee finished in second place behind Clay in 6.80s and therefore lost some important points in the overall competition where these two are thought to finish 1-2. Clay, who is looking to be the first athlete to defend a Heptathlon title at the World Indoor Championships, has 1003 points after the first event, 58 more than Hardee in second place with 955p.
As expected Oleksiy Kasyanov of Ukraine was fast in the first event finishing in third place in 6.93s for 907p and Aleksiy Drozdov fourth in 7.08s, his third 60m race of the season and the third time he finished in exactly the same time, so an equal season’s best. Cuban Leonel Suarez clocked 7.15s and Czech Roman Sebrle, who won the World indoor title in 2001 and 2004, started with a 7.20s result.
One of the medal favourites, Andrei Krauchanka of Belarus was disappointed only running 7.22s, well behind his best results and Aleksandr Pogorelov of Russia, the bronze medalist in Berlin last summer, seemed to be injured during the race finishing in a time of 7.68s and it wouldn’t be a big surprise if he didn’t continue the competition in the second event, the long jump.
Bryan Clay is on course for a great score here and the next couple of events will show whether he will have a shot at the World indoor record 6476 by Dan O’Brien of USA in 1993.
Mirko Jalava for the IAAF
