World Championships:
Men’s Decathlon, Day Two Preview
Posted August 31st, 2007 at 7:29 PM by Jimmie R. Markham
Section: News & Results, Track & Field, Special Features, Live Race Coverage
Going into Day 2 of the Men’s Decathlon of the 11th IAAF World Championships in Athletics from Osaka, Japan, Bryan Clay had withdrawn from the competition with a pulled quadriceps muscle. A quick look at the scoring tables and the personal bests of each of the 3 day 1 leaders was revealing. Roman Å ebrle (CZE), sitting in third place behind Maurice Smith (JAM) and Dmitriy Karpov (KAZ) after day 1, was perfectly positioned to take the gold medal. Day 2 consists of the 110m Hurdles, the Discus Throw, the Pole Vault, the Javelin Throw then finally the grueling 1500m Run. Smith’s hurdles personal best was slightly better than Å ebrle (13.76 to 13.79), his Discus PB was much better (55.69 to 49.37) but after those two events Å ebrle’s strengths would be showcased.
His Pole Vault PB (5.20m to Smith’s 4.55m) is much better than Smith’s, as is his Javelin PB (71.10m to 62.07). They are evenly matched in the 1500m Run. Å ebrle has a PB of 4:39.92 while Smith’s is 4:40.12.
Based on their current point totals, if all three men were to equal their personal bests in all of the events of day 2, the final points total would look like this:
1. Roman Å ebrle (CZE) 8852
2. Maurice Smith (JAM) 8743
3. Dmitriy Karpov (KAZ) 8684
Would Å ebrle be able to put it all together? Keep in mind that he is the current world record holder at 9,026, owns 3 of the 10 best scores of all time and he has a truckload of scrap iron to confirm his place as one of the best multi-event athletes ever:
Decathlon:
10th IAAF World Championships in Athletics (Helsinki, 2005) Gold
28th Olympic Games (Athens, 2004) Gold
9th IAAF World Championships in Athletics (Paris Saint-Denis, 2003) Silver
18th European Championships in Athletics (Munich, 2002) Gold
Heptathlon:
29th European Indoor Championships (Birmingham, England, 2007) Gold
11th IAAF World Indoor Championships (Moscow, 2006) Bronze
28th European Indoor Athletics Championships (Madrid, 2005) Gold
10th IAAF World Indoor Championships (Budapest, 2004) Gold
9th IAAF World Indoor Championships (Birmingham, England, 2003) Bronze
27th European Indoor Championships (Vienna, 2002) Gold
8th IAAF World Indoor Championships (Lisbon, 2001) Gold
22nd European Indoor Championships (Ghent, Belgium, 2000) Silver
7th IAAF World Indoor Championships (Maebashi, Japan, 1999) Bronze
Of course, Å ebrle has has a sub-par season and chapionships thus far. Smith is much less experienced, with only a DNF in Helsinki and a 14th place in Athens to his credit, but he is poised to smash his PB in the Decathlon, which stands at 8,349 points.
Karpov could claim a Bronze medal from the Athens Decathlon and the Paris World Championships (he DNF’d in Helsinki) and was ready to pounce on the gold medal if either of the other two men faltered at any time during day 2.
Be sure to watch it all live on WCSN.com and stay tuned to The Final Sprint for up-to-the-minute results of the decathlon.
Sources: [IAAF] [alltime-athletics.com]
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Tags: decathlon, dmitriy karpov, IAAF, IAAF World Championships, IAAF World Championships in Athletics, live race coverage, maurice smith, Roman Sebrle
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The Final Sprint
[…] As expected going into day 2, Roman Å ebrle won the gold medal in the Men’s decathlon of the 11th IAAF World Championships in Athletics from Osaka, Japan. Å ebrle overtook Maurice Smith (JAM) with outstanding performances in the 8th and 9th of 10 events, the Pole Vault and the Javelin Throw. Smith held on for the silver medal, setting a Carribean record of 8,644 and smashing his personal best by 295 points. Dmitriy Karpov (KAZ) held on for the bronze medal. Here are the decathletes who scored 8,000+ points and the final results: […]
September 1st, 2007 at 9:08 am