Jamaica’s Asafa Powell flew past the finish line with the final leg of an amazing world record in the 4x100-meter relay, his teammate Usain Bolt soaring after him to celebrate. The contrast between the events could not have been starker, coming as they did right after each other Friday night at the Olympic stadium.
But for all the speed and joy of the fastest set of men on earth, they followed an event that is both much less appreciated in the United States and almost unimaginably grueling. The American Bryan Clay’s triumphant moment in the decathlon came after he all but staggered across the finish line at the end of the 1,500 meters. The track announcer greeted him with the news that he was the Olympic champion, to which Clay responded by pitching forward onto the track.
Clay had spent the last two days competing in conditions that ranged from blistering heat to near monsoon, toiling at 10 track and field events.
“Emotionally, it was a tough meet,” Clay said. “I started out so well and came back and had some really poor events, and being physically exhausted after the first day, knowing I was going to come in the second day with only four hours of sleep. Just getting yourself up for every event, to keep plugging away, it was tough.”
By the time Bolt passed the baton to Powell, the only question was by how much the Jamaicans would break the world record. Their time, 37.10 seconds, sliced an almost unfathomable .30 from the record set by a team from the United States in 1993.
“I came out here to help Usain, who was trying to win three gold medals and set three world records,” Powell said. “It’s the biggest thing you can do.”
After Bolt passed the baton to Powell, he kept running and was ahead of the anchor runner for every other team for several strides. As Trinidad and Tobago snatched the silver medal and Japan surprisingly grabbed the bronze, Bolt sailed to Powell and engulfed him in a huge hug.
“You really can’t explain what has happened here,” Bolt said. “It’s just a great feeling. This is what we’ve all been working for.”
The American 4x100 team was expected to contend for the gold, but did not made it out of the preliminary round Thursday night after a failed pass between Darvis Patton and the team anchor, Tyson Gay.
The American women did the same in their preliminaries, and the same mistake dashed the hopes of the Jamaican women, who failed to complete a handoff in the final and did not finish. In Jamaica’s absence, the Russian team of Evgeniya Polyakova, Aleksandra Fedoriva, Yulia Gushchina and Yuliya Chermoshanskaya won the gold, and the Belgians were the unlikely winners of the silver.
“Nobody could believe it because U.S.A. and Jamaica are usually so far ahead,” Gevaert said. “I think there is a party in Belgium now.”
Almost equally unlikely, Nigeria won the bronze.
“This is a great day for Nigeria,” said Oludamola Osayomi, who ran the final leg. “This is unbelievable. I didn’t ever think this could happen.”
There would be no partying for Clay after his victory. He was so spent after the 1,500, the final event, that his victory lap was more like a shuffle.
“I am going home and going straight to bed,” said Clay, whose 8,791 points outdistanced the silver medalist, Alexander Pogorelov of Russia, who had 8,551.
At the finish line, though, Clay got a wonderful gesture from his friend Roman Sebrle of the Czech Republic, the man who had beaten him for the gold medal at the 2004 Athens Games. Sebrle, who was feeling so poorly he considered not running the 1,500, pulled himself up off the track and grabbed Clay’s hand. He raised it high, like a referee signaling the winner of a boxing match.
“He’s the king now,” said Sebrle, who holds the world and Olympic records. “I was the king before.”
Clay, who grew up in Hawaii, hopes his victory will bring attention to his charitable foundation, which helps children in his home state. He also wants to help revive the stature of the decathlon in the United States, where the national attention span often seems only long enough for events like the 4x100 relay.
A decathlon victory may not be as glamorous or dazzling as a world record in the 4x100 relay, but it is much harder to earn.
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