Tom Pappas kept alive an American tradition when he won the decathlon with a total of 8750 points at the World Athletics Championships in the Stade de France, Paris, on Wednesday.
Pappas, who was trailing in second place behind Dmitry Karpov of Kazakhstan at the end of the first five events yesterday, and also after the first two events today -- the 110m hurdles and the discus throw -- finally moved into the lead after the pole vault.
Karpov lost the plot in this event, when he failed thrice at 4.60m and ended up with a vault of just 4.40m. In contrast Pappas cleared 5.10m, the second highest behind Paul Terek, also of the US, who cleared 5.30m. While Pappas earned 941 points in this event, Karpov managed just 731, to surrender the lead.
Defending champion and world record holder Roman Sebrle of the Czech Republic finished second with 8634 points, well below his best mark of 9026 points.
Sebrle kept Pappas in his sights till the end. But with only the 1500m remaining, 179 points separated the two, and Pappas needed to only ensure that he did not lose the race too badly.
Like a true champion, Pappas came up with a personal best performance in the 1500m, and though he came eleventh in a field of 12 runners, finishing with a time of 4:44.31, he collected 653 points, as against the 716 points that accrued to Sebrle, who finished seventh in 4:34.45
Karpov ended third with 8374 points, a new record for Kazakhstan.
Bryan Clay, the third American in the event, who had taken an early lead yesterday, had pulled up short in the last event of the day, the 400m. On Wednesday morning, he returned to the arena to take part in the 110m, but could not complete the race and had to retire from the competition.
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