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Clay Turns to Gold

Azusa Pacific's Bryan Clay Wins Gold in the 2008 Olympic Decathlon

AZUSA, CA (08/22/2008; 1026)(readMedia)-- Azusa Pacific University alum Bryan Clay has won the gold medal in track & field's decathlon during Friday's competition at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, China.

Clay scored 8,791 points to run away from the 40-man field and claim the first-ever gold medal among the 9 Azusa Pacific alums who have competed in 6 previous Olympic Games. Andrei Krauchanka of Belarus earned the silver medal with 8,551 points while Leonel Suarez of Cuba took the bronze with 8,527.

Clay never trailed and led wire-to-wire throughout the 10-event competition, taking the early lead by winning Thursday's opening event the100-meters (10.44) and then expanding his cushion with strong performances in the long jump (25' 6¼"), shot put (53' 4½"), 110-meter high hurdles (13.93) and discus throw (175' 5"), all of which allowed him to cruise in the final event, the 1500 meters.

Clay won 4 events, 2 each on Thursday and Friday and finished no lower than third in 7 of the 10 events. His effort in Friday's discus was an Olympic decathlon record.

Clay, who resides in Glendora, Calif., becomes the tenth American decathlete to win Olympic gold but only the third since 1964 (Bruce Jenner in 1976 and Dan O'Brien in 1996).

During his 4-year collegiate career (1999-2002) at Azusa Pacific, Clay captured an NAIA-record 23 All-America honors and led the Cougars to a sweep of the 2002 NAIA indoor track & field team titles. Within 2 years of concluding his college competition, Clay was an Olympic silver medalist, finishing second at the 2004 Athens Games with a then-personal-best score of 8,820 points (the second best score in U.S. history). The following year he was crowned world champion, winning the decathlon at the World Championships in Helsinki, Finland. Now at the age of 28, he has won his third U.S. championship by taking the Olympic Trials with another personal-best tally of 8,832, and has added "Olympic Champion" as his ultimate title.

Click here to view the final results of the 2008 Olympic decathlon.

Additional updates and comments from Clay's coaches will soon be posted at www.apu.edu.