"I'd love for this to be a spark for the decathlon," said Clay, the 2004 Olympic silver medalist, "and bring it back to the forefront."
While I certainly enjoyed Michael Phelps' extraordinary feat, and marveled at Usain Bolt's incredible domination of the sprints, I have to confess that I have been wondering, 'What happened to the Decathalon?'
For as long as I have been watching Olympics, I have always considered the Decathalon, the zenith of athletics. Names like, Rafer Johnson, Bruce Jenner, Daley Thompson and Dan O'Brien, have epitomized the super human Olympian. This time, the USA had Bryan Clay trying to improve on his silver gained in Athens and he was nowhere to be found on NBC. We saw BMX bikes, diving prelims, Water polo and endless interviews with Beach Volleyball players....Bryan Clay won Gold and we weren't able to watch! It was a travesty...just the occasional snippet of news, even the internet was no better. We even had endless analysis of baton handling. Give Bryan Clay his due... he is the true star of Beijing!
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