Last month Michelle looked ahead towards the Hypo meeting in Götzis, Austria, and gained an insight in to how two top European decathletes perceive the prestigious event; now, 4 weeks on, we review the meeting and ask two top British decathletes for their views on the highly-esteemed multi-events competition.
Of course the decathlon is probably the most different event to any other in athletics for a number of reasons such as its duration, and as an arm off that point the fact that it’s obviously an event of multiple events, but what stood out for me when I interviewed two Great Britain decathletes was how much of a community-feel multi-eventers have with one another and from what I learned from the two athletes, it seems like a community inside athletics completely different to any other kind you may discover in other disciplines of the sport.
I was fortunate enough to have 2010 Commonwealth Games bronze medallist, Martin Brockman and five-time English Schools combined events medallist, Ashley Bryant dedicate some of their time away from their busy schedules to answer a few questions and they both agreed the decathlon has its own unique community.
“The best thing about the decathlon is the people!” Ashley said.
Martin echoed that and elaborated by explaining how often you’ll see your fellow decathletes at each meeting.
“The best thing about the decathlon is the two days of competing as well as the fact you really become friends with your competitors because you’re with them for those two whole days.”
“You’re with them during the warm-up, at each event, to and from each event. The decathlon is great too because you’re making friends like this from all over the world! With other events though, people sometimes just turn up, run for several seconds and then just go home.”
The reputable Hypo meeting in Austria last month proved to be both a successful one for Ashley as he beat his lifetime best and broke the 7800 mark, but at the same time a frustrating one for him as he realised he was going to fall short of the Olympic ‘B’ standard with three events remaining.
“Unfortunately I had picked up an injury before my first decathlon and I had spent 7 weeks before doing the best I could in terms of training to get into shape,” he said.
“I struggled through the competition and I wasn’t firing like I wanted. The physiotherapists were really the only reason I managed to finish the decathlon, needing treatment before most events.
“With 3 events to go I had blown my target of the Olympic ‘B’ standard and was struggling even for the European score.
“But mentally I am strong and I dug in and produced my best three events to finish with a performance of 4.56m in the pole vault, 69.26m in the javelin, breaking my longest standing PB and that left me needing to run 4:47 in the 1500m to score 7800.
“My troubles weren’t over yet, after the hardest decathlon physically and mentally I’ve had to compete in, 200 metres in to my 1500m, one last hurdle stood in my way. My calf started to cramp on every stride, great!
He added: “The cramp didn’t ease but I did my best to keep going. With 300 to go, 3:47 was on the clock knowing I had 60 seconds to run the final 300m. In my head I knew I had done it, kicking on I couldn’t remember feeling the cramp and I came through to finish in 4:41.”
Ashley, like most other decathletes recognises just the magnitude of the Hypo meeting and what a renowned competition athletes the world over view the scale of this meeting. He mentions how the experience was also an unprecedented kind of support which paints a picture of the type of meeting we’d all like to be involved with at some point in our athletic careers.
“Götzis is an amazing competition, to be invited is what decathletes all over the world strive to achieve,” he said.
“The buzz and support from the crowed who understand the decathlon as an event is something I’ve not experienced before, not even at a championship!”
Martin is another athlete that has found himself ill-fated in his most recent competition and was forced to pull out of the Multistars meeting in Italy last month due to falling ill on the final day. His chances of reaching this year’s London Olympics have become slimmer because of this misfortune but it’s admirable to see that the bronze medallist at the Delhi Commonwealth Games isn’t refusing to lose hope in something that isn’t exactly impossible to achieve.
“Because I felt ill Sunday morning in Italy and ended up being sick at the pole vault, leaving me no choice but to pull out of the rest of the competition, it’s now looking unlikely for Olympics selection,” he said.
“You only get three attempts at the decathlon in a year to qualify for the games and that last competition in Italy has made it less likely for me. I’ll need to achieve way above the ‘B’ standard to get in now, I’ll need over 8100 points but I still believe I can do it!”
Martin’s strongest discipline is the high jump, and, at a prominent height of 6ft6 there’s no wonder the 24 year old from Medway and Maidstone AC has a lifetime best performance of a very impressive 2.14!
“It’s definitely my favourite event because I like winning that one at competitions and as well at that, any other discipline that goes well on the day is my favourite! My worst event however has got to be the 400m because it just hurts a lot!”
As for Ashley it seems he has even at times fallen out with some of the disciplines, particularly the javelin.
“I have a love/hate relationship with it, it’s great to throw far but sometimes it hurts and when it hurts, it hurts!”
“High jump and pole vault are enjoyable once you ‘ve cleared the opening height; and the 1500m is an amazing event when you ‘ve finished. There really is an unexplainable high that you get after finishing the decathlon!”
Ashley has recently been selected for the European Championships in Helsinki and he has said that he is going to ignore the ‘B’ standard of 7950 and aim to bypass straight to the major landmark of 8000 points.
The 21 year old is a student at Brunel and took up athletics at senior school. It was a while before he gave up football and rugby, which Ashley still misses but he’s realised that neither are possible whilst committed to athletics.
Martin is also a coach as well as an athlete at his Kent club and is currently learning German.
“I’ve been learning for a year now. I have a friend in Germany so I’ll hopefully be visiting them soon and we’ll be able to have a conversation in German!
Both athletes train six days a week, more than twice a day and it is truly admirable just how much stress decathletes put their bodies under so consistently on such a regular basis. From speaking to both of them, their attitudes towards their goals are also something to recognise and appreciate, and even if misfortune strikes and jeopardises a place in the GB team or injury falls at the worst point, it’s worth admiring their relentless persistence to never give up. And I’m sure everyone would agree that that is the difference between a successful athlete and not!
