Damian Warner in the decathlon 110m hurdles at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games (© Getty Images)
Less than 12 hours since contesting their last event of day one, the decathletes – some, understandably, looking a bit lethargic – were back on track for the 110m hurdles to kick off day two.
Most of the leading contenders were in the fourth and final heat, which went to form. Canada’s Damian Warner was 0.14 shy of his own world decathlon best, but still won comfortably with 13.58 to move up from third to second in the overall standings.
Overnight leader and defending champion Ashton Eaton of the USA clocked 13.80, his slowest time for five years but still good enough to keep him on track for the Olympic record.
But once again, as he had done throughout the first day, Kevin Mayer exceeded expectations by clocking 14.02, his best ever performance within a decathlon and just 0.01 behind his lifetime best. It moved him up one place from fourth to third with some of his best events still to come.
Germany’s Kai Kazmirek, who was in second place overnight, dropped from second to fourth place overall after clocking 14.62.
Larbi Bourrada was the only athlete to set a PB, the Algerian clocking 14.15 to move up one place on the leaderboard to fifth.
Other notable performances came from Arthur Abele, who clocked 14.12, and Cuba’s Leonel Suarez, who ran 14.48. They are currently in 14th and 15th respectively, but are strong javelin throwers and can be expected to move into the top eight by the end of the competition.
Jon Mulkeen for the IAAF
