University of Tennessee Athletics
Injury Forces Pappas to Withdraw from Decathlon
August 24, 2004 | Men's Track
Aug. 24, 2004
DAY 2 DECATHLON RESULTS: HURDLES| DISCUS | POLE VAULT | JAVELIN | 1500 M
ATHENS, Greece - After winning the 100-meter gold Sunday, former Vol Justin Gatlin's opening efforts in the Olympic 200 remained on track through the first and quarterfinal rounds Tuesday in Athens, Greece.
Gatlin breezed through both rounds at Olympic Stadium to earn a lane in Wednesday's semifinal. In the first round, Gatlin finished second in the seventh heat with a time of 20.51 seconds. Gatlin's 20.51 time stood seventh overall in the 55-sprinter field.
American Bernard Williams and Mauritius' Stephane Buckland, winning first round heats six and one, respectively, led the field with matching 20.29 efforts. Germany's Ernst Sebastian won Gatlin's heat in 20.47. Shawn Crawford joined fellow Americans Gatlin and Williams with a qualifier. Crawford's 20.55 tied for the ninth-best time of the first round. Jamaica's Usain Bolt provided the shocker of the first round by running a 21.05 to tie for the 40th fastest time and missing the quarterfinal cut. Bolt, an 18-year-old sensation, held the second-fastest time in the world this year entering the Olympics at 19.93.
Gatlin won his 200 quarterfinal heat easily with a 20.03 time, nearing his season-best time of 20.01. Gatlin's 20.03 ranked second overall among the 24 quarterfinalists.
The Americans controlled all three heats. In addition to Gatlin's win in the third quarterfinal heat, Crawford and Williams also topped the first and second heats, respectively. Crawford led all quarterfinalists with a 19.95 steamer. Crawford leads the world this year with a 19.88 clocking in the 200 from the U.S. Olympic trials. Williams' 20.40 time stood eighth overall.
Unfortunately, a foot injury ended former Vol and defending world champion Tom Pappas' Olympic decathlon aspirations. According to Ed Ryan, the director of sports medicine for the U.S. Olympic Committee, Pappas has an acute strain in his left foot, to be further evaluated.
"It happened halfway through my first [pole vault] run," Pappas said. "It had been bothering me through all the warm-up jumps, but I was trying to run more on the outside of my foot and trying not to worry about the pain. But one particular step I got a sharp pain. It wasn't right and ever since that jump I got it retaped and did some strides, but the pain was getting worse."
"He likely wouldn't have been able to take off to the extent that he could have cleared a height, let alone plant his foot in the javelin or run 1,500 meters," U.S. coach Ralph Lindeman said. "It was just too much pain."
Before leaving the competition, Pappas opened the day with a ninth-place time of 14.18 in the 110 hurdles, the sixth decathlon event. The hurdles performance propelled Pappas to fourth in the overall standings. His career best in the 110 hurdles stands at 13.90.
Pappas also contested the discus, the seventh decathlon event, and finished seventh with a 155-foot, 5-inch fling. The discus performance dropped Pappas to a tight fifth-place standing and what became his final point total of 6,182. His career-best effort in the discus is 159-10.
Pappas injured his left foot during the pole vault, the eighth of 10 decathlon events. Sprinting down the pole vault runway for his first attempt at 15-1, Pappas ran through to the mat without making a takeoff. Despite the efforts of medical personnel, the pain increased rather than abated, and Pappas was forced to put an early halt to his Olympic dream.
"I don't know when it initially started," Pappas said. "But it was sore yesterday. I woke up this morning, and it was just really stiff in my arch. I had it worked on this morning before the hurdles and after the warm-ups it started feeling a little better. But on my last hurdle rep at the practice track, it started hurting. It didn't bother me in the discus. I think just sitting around for maybe an hour after the discus, I thought I might be in trouble. It really started to hurt. It took forever to try to warm it up a little bit. It was one of those things where it wasn't getting any better."
World record holder Roman Sebrle of the Czech Republic won the decathlon with an Olympic record 8,893 points. In his first Olympics, American Bryan Clay seized silver with an impressive lifetime-best 8,820-point finish. Kazakhstan's Dmitriy Karpov totaled 8,725 to earn bronze after leading the first day.
Gatlin competes in the 200 semifinals Wednesday. Tim Mack becomes the last former Vol to take the track Wednesday, when the U.S. Olympic trials champion begins qualifying for the pole vault. If Gatlin advances from the 200 semifinal, the final will be run Thursday.
Wednesday, Aug. 25 (All times EDT)
12:15 p.m. Tim Mack, pole vault (first round)
3:50 p.m. Justin Gatlin, 200m dash (semifinal)
GATLIN NAMED USA TRACK AND FIELD ATHLETE OF THE WEEK
Former Vol Justin Gatlin has been named athlete of the week by USA Track and Field after winning the nation's first gold medal in the sport at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, Greece.
Gatlin won the 100-meter gold Sunday after clocking a world-leading and personal-best time of 9.85. The race proved to be the fastest Olympic 100 final in history. Gatlin won six consecutive NCAA sprint titles in two years as a Tennessee Volunteer.
