Posted on: Wednesday, August 25, 2004
Decathlete can stand tall today
| • | Clay claims silver |
| • | It's Clay Day |
| • | Clay carries flag for Hawai'i athletes |
| • | So close, yet so far from gold |
| • | Hawai'i kayakers still in it |
| • | U.S. ousted by Brazil in women's volleyball |
By Ferd Lewis
Advertiser Columnist
When Bryan Clay lined up for his first event in the Olympic decathlon, the 100-meter dash, a glance either way down the starting line could be imposing for somebody who is, maybe, 5 feet 11.
The view to his left included 6-3 Vitaliy Smirnov and 6-6 Dmitriy Karpov. To his right were 6-5 Tom Pappas, 6-6 Chiel Warners and 6-4 Kristjan Rahnu.
Not for the first time — but maybe, just maybe, for the last time for a while now — was the Castle High graduate overshadowed.
Two days and 10 events later, guess who stood tall on his way to the medal stand today, where the silver will be placed around his neck?
In a 39-man field where he physically looked up to just about everyone, including a guy named Attila, Clay backed down to no one, coming up just 73 points short of the gold but with the third-highest point total (8,820) ever by an American.
In a field that included five of the top six finishers from the Sydney Olympics, it was the newcomer Clay who chased Roman Sebrle, the world record holder and gold medalist, to the finish line.
"I got through the 100 OK," Clay would say after winning the event. "I knew after that everything would be OK. I was very confident. I knew what I was able to do."
It took an Olympian effort to deliver Hawai'i's first Olympic track medal and the first individual medal of any kind by a Hawai'i-raised athlete in 16 years, and Clay was up to the task. Not since Kevin Asano's judo silver in Seoul, has a medal in an individual sport been claimed by someone who grew up here.
"Even coming out of high school, I don't think I was taken seriously as a track and field athlete," Clay told reporters afterward. "I think this is because Hawai'i hasn't got the (Olympic) athletic tradition, but I've shown today that we're not just a bunch of surfers and I think there's a load of potential Olympic athletes in Hawai'i."
Indeed, if some thought his victory over Pappas in the U.S. trials last month was a "fluke" or an "upset" as it had been repeatedly labeled, Clay underlined otherwise with an impressive start-to-finish effort in the grueling competition.
While Pappas, the toast of NBC and focus of a Greek bank's promotional campaign, limped off silently yesterday with a foot injury, it was left to Clay, who was painstakingly overtaking Karpov for the silver, to carry the U.S. hopes to the medal stand.
Clay, who began the last five events in third place, earned four top 10 finishes — including two seconds — in the last five events. Karpov, meanwhile, finished 19th in the pole vault, 21st in the javelin and 20th in the 1,500 meters.
Karpov, however, would not be the only giant that Clay overtook yesterday.
"A few years ago I was watching people like Dan O'Brien and Dave Johnson put up huge scores," Clay noted. "Now, I know I surpassed most of them ... I don't know what to say."
Reach Ferd Lewis at flewis@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8044.
