Phil McMullen in the Multistars Pole Vault (© Lorenzo Sampaolo)
The second and final day of the Multistars in Salò, Italy, the first leg of the IAAF Combined Events Challenge 2005, witnessed a dramatic change in the leading positions in the men’s Decathlon.
Phil McMullen from the USA, seventh at the end of day one with 3881 points, climbed up to win the 2005 Multistars with 8107 ahead of Vitaliy Smirnov from Uzbekistan, himself behind in fifth place after five events, who bounced back during the second day to place second with 7825. Hamdi Dhoubi finished third with 7774. Overnight leader Chris Boyles, who faded into fourth place after the Discus Throw, failed three attempts at his opening height in the Pole Vault.
In the women’s Heptathlon Margaret Simpson from Ghana won her second Multistars title with 6006 points. The African threw 48.41m in the Javelin, her strongest event to take the lead in the overall ranking. Janice Josephs from South Africa confirmed her runner-up position in the second day with 5958 points. Tiia Hautala from Finland went to the podium in third place with 5893 points. The 19-year-old Briton Jessica Ennis, leader after day one, smashed her PB to finish fourth with an excellent score of 5827 points and qualified for the European Junior Championships in Kaunas.
Men’s Decathlon
The African record holder Hamdi Dhoubi of Tunisia, in second place after the first day, took the lead after running the 110m Hurdles in 14.76 (879) and overhauled Chris Boyles who clocked 15.45.
The Discus Throw produced a significant change at the top. McMullen, fourth at last year’s US Trials in Sacramento, scored the best performance with 50.54 (882) and climbed to first with 5630 ahead of Dhouibi (41.53 in the Discus). Vitaliy Smirnov improved his placing from fourth to third with a 44.20 metres release.
McMullen increased her lead over Dhouibi after placing second in the Pole Vault with 5.10 behind his compatriot Paul Terek who won his best event with 5.20 and improved from sixth to third. He remained in first after a solid 58.57 (716) in the Javelin Throw. Czech Tomas Dvorak produced the best performance with 61.93 but remained in fifth position behind Smirnov, Dhouibi, Terek.
McMullen also won the 1500 metres in 4:18.77 (820) to clinch a well-deserved win with 8107 said, “yesterday I struggled with the head wind in the 100 metres and the Long Jump. Today I felt stronger. I came here with the world leading mark of 7922 points set in Berkeley at the end of March. My coach told me: “Phil, if you keep this world leading mark until today you can win.”
“I am happy with my performance in the Javelin but I need to improve in the 110m Hurdles and the Long Jump. Now I hope to keep this form until the US Trials where I want to qualify for the World Championships. Last year I finished fourth in Sacramento but despite the tenth best performance of the year in the world I watched the Olympic Games on TV. I was born in Michigan but I live in El Sorante (California). I train at Berkeley”, said McMullen.
Women’s Heptathlon
Overnight leader Jessica Ennis mantained her first place after improving her PB to 6.09m in the Long Jump (877). The overall order did not undergo any significant changes with South Africa’s Janice Josephs remaining in the runners-up position with 6.14 (893) ahead of Margaret Simpson (6.09 – 877pts).
Simpson went into the lead with 48.41 in the Javelin Throw (829). This event is the weakest for Ennis who slided into fourth position although she improved her PB to 30.28. Finland’s Tiia Hautala moved up into third after a solid 46.34 in the javelin (789).
Josephs won the 800 metres in 2:15.79 (882) but this performance was not enough to take the lead because Simpson defended her winning margin with a run of 2:18.60 (843).
“Some days ago I thought that winning was too much because it was my first competition since the Olympic Games in Athens. For my first event of the year a score of 6006 points is good. Now I will prepare for three weeks in the Italian town of Schio for Götzis”, said Margaret Simpson.
Diego Sampaolo for the IAAF
