After twelve long years, an American has finally won the Olympic decathlon. Bryan Clay won the ten-event competition in Beijing going away, outdistancing his closest opponent (Andrei Krauchanka of Belarus) by 240 points. He finished with 8,791 points and secured the victory by finishing the 1500-meters race.
Dan O’ Brien was the last U.S. athlete to win the Olympic decathlon, in the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games.
Clay led the competition wire to wire, as he placed first or second in five of the ten events and third in two others.
