Paul Terek Finishes Olympic Decathlon In 21st Place
8/24/2004 12:00:00 AM | Men's Track and Field
Aug. 24, 2004
EAST LANSING, Mich. - Former Michigan State All-American Paul Terek completed his Olympic debut by placing 21st in the decathlon Tuesday in Athens, Greece. Terek finished with 7,893 points, which was exactly 1,000 behind the winning mark of 8,893 set by Roman Serble of the Czech Republic. Bryan Clay of the United States finished second with a score of 8,820, while fellow American Tom Pappas, one of the favorites entering the competition, was forced to withdraw after suffering an injury to his left foot during the pole vault. Terek opened the second day of competition with a personal best of 15.12 in the 110-meter hurdles to earn 835 points, and followed that with a throw of 45.62m in the discus for 780 points. Terek excelled in his specialty - the pole vault - with a season-best vault of 5.30 meters, which was second best among the Olympic decathlon competitors, to earn 1,004 points and move temporarily into 12th place through eight events. But he finished with disappointing performances in the javelin (50.62m - 598 points) and the 1,500-meter run (4:50.36 - 616 points) to drop to 21st. "In this competition, every little point counts," said Terek. "This has been an experience for me. I didn't run a good 1500 and I'm a little disappointed there. Hopefully, this won't be a once in a lifetime experience for me. It's going to take a lot of hard work on my part, but Beijing starts tomorrow." Terek, just 24 years old, finished short of his U.S. Olympic Trials performance, where he finished third with a score of 8,312 points.
