2008 Olympic Track and Field - Day 8

Bryan Clay gave the U.S. its first decathlon gold medal since Dan O’Brien’s winning effort in 1996 as Clay cruised to a 240-point victory Friday. Clay began the day with 4521 points and finished with 8791. Andrei Krauchanka of Belarus held on to second with 8551 points while Cuba’s Leonel Suarez moved into third place in the final event, the 1500-meter run, and finished with a Cuban record 8527. Clay didn’t post any personal bests Friday but was steady through the day’s first four events, earning at least 904 points in each. He was second overall in the 110 hurdles (13.93 seconds), first overall in the discus (53.79 meters), tied for third in the pole vault (5.0) and took third in the javelin throw (70.97). With an insurmountable lead, Clay then played it safe in the 1500, jogging home in 5:06.59. American Trey Hardee was in fourth place after seven events but no-heighted in the pole vault, missing three times at 4.7 meters, eliminating him from competition.

Tirunesh Dibaba of Ethiopia completed the first-ever Olympic women’s 5000-10,000 double by winning the 5000-meter run. Ethiopian-born Elvan Abeylegesse, who runs for Turkey, earned the silver medal (15:42.74) with 2004 gold medalist Meseret Defar, also of Ethiopia, third (15:44.12). The early pace was slow, leaving the winning time almost a full minute behind Defar’s 2004 effort of 14:45.65. Abeylegesse picked the pace up around the 1400-meter mark. Thereafter, several runners took turns leading, but a dozen competitors were still bunched in the leading pack with three laps remaining. The top three runners pulled away as the final lap began, With Dibaba gradually pulling away from Defar. Abeylegesse then reeled in Defar for second place. The three Americans in the race included Kara Goucher (ninth place, 15:49.39), 10,000- meter bronze medalist Shalane Flanagan (tenth, 15:50.80) and Jennifer Rhines (14th, 16:34.63).

It wasn’t pretty, but Australian Steven Hooker battled through the last four heights to not only win the men’s pole vault gold medal, but break Tim Mack’s Olympic record in the process. Hooker needed three attempts to clear at 5.80, 5.85 and 5.90, with the latter jump clinching the gold. With the bar raised to 5.96, Hooker again needed three attempts before succeeding, topping Mack’s 5.95 set in 2004. Russia’s Evgeniy Lukyanenko cleared 5.85 to gain the silver while Ukraine’s Denys Yurchenko earned the bronze, clearing 5.70 with three misses. American Derek Miles also cleared 5.70 with three misses, passed at 5.75 then missed three times at 5.80 to settle for fourth place. Lukyanenko seemed to have the edge for gold when he cleared 5.80 on his first attempt while Hooker needed three tries to clear. Both men cleared 5.85 on their final attempt but the Russian missed three times at 5.90.

The bobbles that plagued the U.S. and other relay teams Thursday continued in the women’s 4 x 100-meter relay final on Friday. With favored Jamaica in the lead, third-leg runner Kerron Stewart couldn’t pass the baton to anchor runner Veronica Campbell-Brown, leaving the track open for Russia to win the gold in 42.31 seconds. The winning quartet included Yevgeniya Polyakova, Aleksandra Fedoriva, Yulia Gushchina and Yuliya Chermoshanskaya. Belgium took second in a national-record 42.54 with Nigeria third (43.04).

There were no such problems for the Jamaican men. Instead, Usain Bolt and friends broke the world record of 37.40 - set by the U.S. in 1992 and matched in 1993 - finishing in 37.10. Nesta Carter and Michael Frater gave Jamaica the lead, Bolt extended it and anchor runner Asafa Powell finished it off. Trinidad and Tobago was second (38.06) and Japan third (38.15).

The women’s long jump medal positions were established in the first round as Brazil’s Maurren Maggi leaped a season best 7.04 meters to claim the gold, Russia’s Tatyana Lebedeva jumped 6.97 and Blessing Akagbare of Nigeria reached a personal best 6.91. Neither Maggi nor Akagbare improved their marks. The drama came in the final round, however, as Lebedeva, the 2004 gold medalist and 2007 World Outdoor champion, took aim at another gold but fell just short, with a season best 7.03. Brittney Reese finished fifth (6.76) with fellow Americans Grace Upshaw (eighth, 6.58) and Funmi Jimoh (12th, 6.29) behind.

Blessing finished 13th overall in the long jump qualification round and didn’t originally qualify for the final. She was added to replace Ukraine’s Lyudmila Blonska, who was disqualified after testing positive for steroids. Blonska also forfeited her heptathlon silver medal. American Hyleas Fountain was upgraded from bronze to silver while Russia’s Tatyana Chernova was awarded the heptathlon bronze. This was Blonska’s second doping violation. She faces a possible lifetime ban.

Italy’s Alex Schwazer set a new Olympic record while winning the 50-kilometer race walk in 3:37.09 Friday. Australia’s Jared Tallent was second in a personal best 3:39.27 while Denis Nizhegorodov of Russia, the 2004 silver medalist and current world record-holder, was third in 3:40.14.

In preliminary competition Friday, there were no hand-off problems for the U.S. relay teams, resulting in two heat victories in 4 x 400-meter competition. The American women won their heat in 3:22.45 to edge Jamaica (3:22.60). The U.S. team featured Mary Wineberg, Monique Henderson, Natasha Hastings and Sanya Richards. Jamaica’s quartet included Novlene Williams, Shereefa Lloyd, Bobby-Gaye Wilkins and Shericka Williams. Belarus was third in the heat (3:22.78), while Russia won the other heat in the day’s fourth-best time (3:23.71).

On the men’s side, the U.S. won its heat despite resting the 400-meter gold and silver medal- winners, LaShawn Merritt and Jeremy Wariner, respectively, who both ran in Thursday’s individual race. On Friday, the American quartet of David Neville, Kerron Clement, Reggie Witherspoon and Angelo Taylor won their heat in 2:59.98, which was the day’s third-best time. Great Britain (Andrew Steele, Robert Tobin, Michael Bingham and Martyn Rooney) was first overall in 2:59.33, just ahead of the Bahamas (2:59.88). Both 4 x 400 finals are set for Saturday.