Never a favorite event for Clay, he endured through the accumulated fatigue of two days of competition to finish in 5:06.59 for 522 points, bringing his winning total to 8,791 and becoming the first U.S. gold medalist in the event since Dan O'Brien in 1996. Andrei Krauchanka of Belarus took the silver with 8,551, and Leonel Suarez of Cuba finished third with 8,527.
Near miss for Miles
Derek Miles came within one clearance of winning a medal in the pole vault, ultimately ending fourth. Miles had cleared 4.60m/18-4.5 on his third attempt and 5.70m/18-8.25 on his second. After passing at 5.75m/18-10.25, he was one of five jumpers remaining at 5.80m/ 19-0.25.
Among the five, Miles sat in third. He had three attempts at 5.80 but missed on all three, yet still was in third. But Australia's Steve Hooker cleared the height on his third and last try, leapfrogging Miles and pushing him out of the medals. Hooker was just picking up steam. He went on to vault an Olympic record 5.96m/19-6.5, breaking American Tim Mack's record of 5.95m/19-6.25 set in 2004. Evgeny Lukyanenko of Russia was second at 5.85m/19-2.25, and Denys Yurchenko of Ukraine was third at 5.70m.
Reese 5th in long jump
Competing in her first Olympic Games, Brittney Reese (University, Miss.) led three Americans in the women's long jump final. Reese's second-round jump of 6.76m/22-2.25 kept her in fifth place after three rounds of jumping, while Grace Upshaw (Los Altos Hills, Calif.) was eighth with her third-round effort of 6.58m/21-7.25 to make the final cut of eight. Funmi Jimoh (Stafford, Texas) was 12th at 6.29m/20-7.75. Reese and Upshaw were unable to improve upon their marks, but neither were they passed in the standings, and they finished fifth and eighth, respectively, with Jimoh 12th.
Tactical women's 5,000m
In a race that took conservative pacing to new levels in the opening laps, Olympic Trials champion Kara Goucher (Portland, Ore.), 10,000m bronze medalist Shalane Flanagan (Pittsboro, N.C.) and three-time Olympian Jen Rhines (Mammoth Lakes, Calif.) put on their punching gloves and competed in a tactical and crowded women's 5,000m final.
Elvan Abeylegesse of Turkey led the entire field through 800m in approximately 2:54. The first kilometer was passed in 3:49, followed by a brief pace increase that led to 2 km in 6:45.4. But they slowed again. With three laps to go, steeplechase gold medalist Gulnara Galkina-Samitova of Russia picked up the pace, with 10,000m gold medalist Tirunesh Dibaba of Ethiopia in tow. With two laps left, Abeylegesse began to speed up in earnest, throwing in a 64-second lap, and with one left, the sprint was on. At the finish, it was Dibaba winning her second gold of the Games in 15:41.40, with Abeylegesse second in 15:42.74 and Meseret Defar of Ethiopia third in 15:44.12. Goucher ended ninth in 15:49.39, with Flanagan 10th in 15:50.80. Rhines was 14th in 16:34.63.
In 4x400m relay qualifying, the USA women's team of Mary Wineberg (Cincinnati, Ohio), Monique Henderson (Chula Vista, Calif.), Natasha Hastings (Clermont, Fla.) and Sanya Richards (Austin, Texas) ran 3:22.45 to win heat 2 and advance to Saturday's final. The men's team of 400m bronze medalist David Neville (Valencia, Calif.), 400m hurdles silver medalist Kerron Clement (Los Angeles), Reggie Witherspoon (Baltimore, Md.) and 400m hurdles gold medalist Angelo Taylor (Decatur, Ga.) won heat 1 in 2:59.98 to advance.
Another WR for Jamaica
The Jamaican men's 4x100m relay team closed out the evening in style, with Usain Bolt picking up his third world record and third gold medal of these Olympics. With Nesta Carter leading off to Michael Frater, Jamaica was relatively even with the field entering the third leg. Unfortunately for the rest of the field and for the existing WR, Bolt ran that leg and broke the race open. The 100 and 200m world record holder handed off to former 100m record holder Asafa Powell, who dug toward the finish line and crossed in 37.10, breaking the world and Olympic record of 37.40 held by the United States.
For more information on Team USA at the Olympic Games, including athlete quotes, event schedule, TV schedule and complete results, visit USATF.org.
Team USA medal table, 2008 Olympic Games
Gold (5)
Stephanie Brown Trafton (Galt, Calif.), women's discus, 64.74m/212-5
Angelo Taylor (Decatur, Ga.), men's 400m hurdles, 47.25
Dawn Harper (Los Angeles), women's 100m hurdles, 12.54
LaShawn Merritt (Suffolk, Va.), men's 400m, 43.75
Bryan Clay (Glendora, Calif.), decathlon, 8,791
Silver (8)
Christian Cantwell (Columbia, Mo.), men's shot put, 21.09m/69-2.5
Jenn Stuczynski (Churchville, N.Y.), women's pole vault, 4.80m/15-9
Kerron Clement (Los Angeles), men's 400m hurdles, 47.98
Sheena Johnson Tosta (Chula Vista, Calif.), women's 400m hurdles, 53.70.
Shawn Crawford (Los Angeles), men's 200m, 19.96
Jeremy Wariner (Waco, Texas), men's 400m, 44.74
David Payne (Hampton, Va.), men's 110m hurdles, 13.17
Allyson Felix (Los Angeles), women's 200, 21.93
Bronze (8)
Shalane Flanagan (Pittsboro, N.C.), women's 10,000m, 30:22.22AR
Hyleas Fountain (Kettering, Ohio), women's heptathlon, 6619 points
Walter Dix (Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.), men's 100m, 9.91
Bershawn Jackson (Raleigh, N.C.), men's 400m hurdles, 48.06
Sanya Richards (Austin, Texas), women's 400m, 49.93
Walter Dix (Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.), men's 200m, 19.98
David Neville (Los Angeles), men's 400m, 44.80
David Oliver (Kissimmee, Fla.), men's 110m hurdles, 13.18
Day 8 Team USA quotes - Evening session
Men's Decathlon
Bryan Clay (Glendora, Calif.): "I've been telling people that I'm in the best shape of my life. I really am. I've been training incredibly hard. Training's been going really well. You might not be able to tell by some of the results, but when you take into account everything we've had to go through the last two days, I think I did well. I'm very pleased with my score, of course I'm pleased with the medal and the title that comes with the medal. I can't tell you how happy I am to have worked for something for so long, and finally accomplish it, and have my dreams come true. I'm hoping to continue to do this through 2012. I hopefully can get another medal. I don't know if anybody's got three medals at the Olympic Games. That's maybe another goal."
Women's Long Jump Final
Britney Reese (University, Miss.): "I'm a little bit upset, but I'm also happy I had the chance to come here. Right after the second jump, I knew it wasn't going to be my day."
Grace Upshaw (Los Altos Hills, Calif.): "I was having a hard time with the board. But even those jumps didn't feel really good. I was trying hard to feel as good as I possible could today. It just wasn't there for me. I got a bug right after prelims, so I don't know if that zapped my energy a little bit. I tried to do everything I possibly could to get as healthy as possible, but sometimes your energy is not where it needs to be."
Funmi Jimoh (Stafford, Texas):"I did my best, but I didn't get through. I had two jumps that weren't so good and a big scratch. It was a good jump, but over the board. I'm happy I made it that far, but I didn't want it to end like that."
Men's Pole Vault Final
Derek Miles (Tea, S.D.): It was a tough day. It was one of those days when I was forcing things. Nothing was clicking and falling into place. Fourth is tough enough, but to just not to be firing on all cylinders is the hard part. I'll wake up tomorrow and start enjoying the experience. It was an off day and unfortunately, it was the wrong day.
Women's 5,000m final
Kara Goucher (Portland, Ore.): "I have a lot of work to do. The pace was slow, but they're amazing athletes. I maintained my composure. I know this sounds crazy, but I think I could have won that on the right night. I still have so much improvement left."
Shalane Flanagan (Pittsboro, N.C.): "The Ethiopians and Kenyans like to play around with the pace. I just had to deal with it, but my legs were tired and it was hard to change gears and just drop it like that. I tried to ease into every move because I knew that lactic acid was going to kick in if I went too hard. So when they made a move with three laps to go, I couldn't get there fast enough and I think it cost me two or three spots."
Jen Rhines (Mammoth Lakes, Calif.):
"There was nothing I could do out there. I hurt my foot on Tuesday. I've been getting treatment and our medical staff has been taking great care of me. I couldn't run normally. From the first move, I saw it, but I couldn't go. It's been my goal since the last Olympics to come in and run in a final. I accomplished that. Everything was perfect except for hurting my foot."
Women's 4x400m qualifying
Mary Wineberg (Cincinnati, Ohio): "We got the baton around the track safely. There always are good situations that come out of every circle. The important thing tomorrow is to run the best we can and win a gold medal. We missed out on a couple of gold medals. It's up to both the men and women to get the baton around the track."
Monique Henderson (Chula Vista, Calif.): "It felt good. I didn't get out as well as I could have, but I finished strong."
Natasha Hastings (Clermont, Fla.): "I felt good. It was a pretty good race. We were pretty even with Jamaica. The goal was to get around the track and get into tomorrow's final. Hopefully we can just get out there tomorrow and be focused. We want to run a good, clean race."
"This is my first time on the track in the two-and-a-half weeks I've been here. We had China in our heat, so we had a little extra cheering even though it wasn't really for us. It was a great feeling. I've never been to a track meet of this magnitude, so it's been an awesome experience for me."
Sanya Richards (Austin, Texas): "I found out in the last five minutes that I was going to run. At the last minute, our coach called me over and asked if I was ready to go. I said, 'Absolutely.' I didn't want to take chances. I ran conservatively and made sure we qualified."
Men's 4x400m qualifying
David Neville (Los Angeles): "I was put on the leadoff leg. I knew that I had a job, which was to get the stick around and put us in a good position to qualify for the final. I was able to come out and do my job in the 400. Now I have the relay and I was just coming out to have fun. I don't have as much pressure as for an individual medal. I have teammates and we all come together and we're here to do our best and take home the gold."
Reggie Witherspoon (Baltimore, Md.): "Our main focus was to take care of the baton. We can't hang our heads. Our coach said to run safely and easily and get to the next round. I never had run in front of a crowd this big. Everyone ran comfortably. The goal was to get to the next round."
Kerron Clement (Los Angeles): "It went really well. I was very relaxed. We focused on good, safe baton passes today. We want to redeem ourselves."
Angelo Taylor (Decatur, Ga.): "I felt all right. I knew that once they got the lead, I didn't have to run hard. I was just trying to shake off the 400m hurdle final. I just wanted to run smoothly and qualify. Our goal was to qualify. It wasn't to finish in front. These guys did a wonderful job putting us out there. We made safe baton passes."
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