Local Boy Wins Gold

August 22, 2008

Bryan Clay, the local boy born in Texas but raised in Kaneohe, has brought the Olympic Decathlon title back to the US. Clay finished the 10-discipline competition today with 8,791 points just 100 off Dan O'Brien's former American record and a huge 240 points ahead of the silver medalist Andrei Krauchanka of Belarus.

Clay now joins the pantheon of Bruce Jenner and Jim Thorpe as Olympic champions in an event that an American has won only twice since 1976.

He took the lead from the beginning yesterday, and ranked no less than third in seven of the disciplines, including an Olympic-best 167 feet, 5 inches in the discus. Clay led by a nearly comfortable 479 points going into the final event, the 1,500 meter run. Clay was so exhausted he could manage little more than a jog around the track in 5 minutes, 6.59 seconds. But it was enough for the gold.

In other Olympic news, Natasha Kai of Kahuku became Hawaii's first gold medalist of the Beijing Games as a member of the winning US women's soccer team which defeated Brazil 1-0 in the final yesterday.