American Bryan Clay becomes world’s greatest athlete
BEIJING – Welcome home. For the 12th time in Olympic history – but the first time in 12 years – the world’s greatest athlete is an American.
Bryan Clay earned the honorary title Friday by capturing the gold medal in the Olympic decathlon at the National Stadium.
“We’ve got the title of the world’s greatest athlete now and it’s back on U.S. soil,” said Clay, who won the silver medal at the 2004 Athens Games. “I don’t know about everybody else, but it means something to me. I know it means something to the rest of the decathletes. And I know it means something to the (Bruce) Jenners and the (Bill) Toomeys and all those guys who went before us and paved the road for us.”
Clay, 28, won the grueling two-day, ten-event contest with 8,791 points. Andrei Krauchanka of Belarus won the silver with 8,551 points and Cuba’s Leonel Suarez won the bronze with 8,527 points.
He led the decathlon from wire-to-wire from the 100-meter dash conducted Thursday morning in a driving rainstorm clear through the final challenge, the 1,500 meters on a warm Friday night.
Clay had built a massive 479-point lead entering the 1,500, so he only needed to finish the race to clinch the gold, the first by an American in the Olympics since Dan O’Brien at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics. He finished in 5:06.59, but if he had run 4:49.36 or better, he would have broken O’Brien’s American record of 8,891 points
“I tried to go out and stay on pace,” he said. “But I knew it was going to be a struggle from the very get go. I was telling my manager and coaches, I ‘m going to try and go out, but I’m exhausted. I’ve got nothing in my legs.
“I wish I could have had more and done it. My number one goal was to try and compete well and win the gold medal, and that’s what we came out and did, so I’m happy with that.”
Joining the ranks of American decathlon champions like Jim Thorpe, Bill Toomey and Bruce Jenner, seemed unlikely for Clay when he was growing up in Hawaii. Born to a Japanese mother and African-American father who divorced when he was 10, Clay became a troublemaker in elementary school, frequently getting in fights. His mother enrolled him in a track club to help channel his energy.
His versatility caught the eyes of coaches, and Clay gravitated to the decathlon after meeting 2000 decathlon bronze medalist Chris Huffins at a summer camp.
After competing at Azusa Pacific University in California, Clay kept improving and won the Olympic trials in 2004. After winning silver in Athens, he won the world championship in 2005. But injuries hobbled him the in 2006 and ’07. Finally healthy again, he won the Olympic trials in July with 8,832 points, the world’s best mark this year.
At 5-11, 185 pounds, Clay doesn’t fit the mold of the tall, strapping decathletes like Jenner or Rafer Johnson. But whatever he lacks in size, he makes up for it with exceptional speed and technique. Clay led all decathletes in the 100-meter dash, the long jump and discus throw, and he had top-three marks in the shot put, 110-meter hurdles, pole vault and javelin. Aside from the 1,500, the only events he struggled in were the last two events on Thursday, the high jump (11th) and 400 meters (10th).
“Emotionally it was a tough meet for me,” said Clay. “I started out so well, then all of a sudden came back and had some really poor events. Being physically exhausted after the first day, knowing that I was going to come to the second day with only four hours of sleep – just trying to get yourself up for each event and keep positive and not fall off was tough.”
The Olympic decathlon champion the – world’s greatest athlete – has long been a prestigious title, not only in track and field, but among all sports. But the title has lost some of its luster in America as U.S. athletes had won only two gold medals in the decathlon since 1968 (Jenner in 1976 and O’Brien in ’96).
“It’s been a little while since we had the Olympic gold medal in the decathlon brought back to the States,” said Clay. “I’m happy with being the person to do it. I hope the Wheaties box and all those types of things happen. I’d love for that to happen. I’d love for this to be a spark for the decathlon and bring it back to the forefront of track and field.
“I think this is a start of something good. I’m hoping that we can continue to do this through 2012. I’m hoping that my body holds out and I can hopefully get another medal.”
(E-mail nielsend(at)shns.com. Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service, http://www.scrippsnews.com)