Lindon Victor scores 4,192 on first day of World Championship decathlon

LONDON – Competing in the first day of the decathlon at the IAAF World Championships at London Stadium, Lindon Victor of Grenada produced a score of 4,192 points, which currently has the Aggie senior in 15^th place among a field of 32.
 
The leading score through the first five events is 4,478 by Kevin Mayer of France, the 2016 Olympic silver medalist. Germany's tandem of Kai Kazmirek and Rico Freimuth are currently second and third with scores of 4,421 and 4,361.
 
Damian Warner of Canada (4,347) and American Trey Hardee (4,313) round out the top five. Victor's brother, Kurt Felix, sits in sixth place with 4,293 points.
 
"Four or five days before the meet I was feeling really good, but in the last couple of days I started feeling tighter each day," noted Victor. "My body just wasn't responding today, and I don't know why. I may have come over here too early. Plus, I've had a very long season with a lot of decathlons."
 
Victor's day opened with a 10.83 (-0.7 wind) in the 100 meters for 899 points. In the long jump, he reached a distance of 22-10 ¾ (6.98) into a headwind of 1.2 for 809 points. After two events, with a total of 1,708 points, Victor was in 21^st place.
 
Scoring 843 points in the shot put with a mark of 52-0 ½ (15.86) moved Victor into a tie for 10^th place at 2,551 points with Georgia's Devon Williams and seven points behind Felix, who was ninth.
 
In the high jump, a clearance of 6-6 ¼ (1.99) added 794 points to Victor's total, but he dropped to 12^th place with 3,345 points. A run of 49.30 seconds in the 400m wrapped up the day, giving Victor 847 points to reach his first-day tally of 4,192 points.
 
The second day will include a pair of throwing events for Victor with the discus and javelin, but a particular conversation will need to take place first to see how productive he can be.
 
"I'll have to talk to my body tonight to see how it feels," explained Victor. "I came in here wanting to score really big. Even the score that is leading right now isn't better than my first-day PR of 4,516 that I set this season. Knowing that I'm good enough to be up there is an eye opener. I won't have the collegiate season next year, so we'll see how that works."
 
Saturday's action will also include the men's javelin final for Ioannis Kyriazis. Relay action will include prelims in the 4x100 and 4x400, with the final of the 4x100 also contested.
 
2017 IAAF World Championships – Schedule for Texas A&M Athletes
(London time listed first, followed by Central time)
 
Saturday, August 12
    10:00 a.m.      4:00 a.m.           M Dec  110H           Lindon Victor
    10:35 a.m.      4:35 a.m.       W 4x100  Heats          (Aaliyah Brown, Simone Facey, Jennifer Madu – relay pool)
    10:55 a.m.      4:55 a.m.       M 4x100  Heats          (Michael Bryan, Shavez Hart – relay pool)
    11:00 a.m.      5:00 a.m.           M Dec  Discus A      Lindon Victor
    11:50 a.m.      5:50 a.m.       M 4x400  Heats          (Fred Kerley – relay pool)
    12:20 p.m.      6:20 a.m.           M Dec  Discus B      Lindon Victor
      2:15 p.m.      8:15 a.m.           M Dec  Pole Vault   Lindon Victor
 
      5:30 p.m.    11:30 a.m.           M Dec  Javelin A     Lindon Victor
      6:55 p.m.    12:55 p.m.           M Dec  Javelin B     Lindon Victor
      8:15 p.m.      2:15 p.m.      M Javelin  FINAL          Ioannis Kyriazis
      9:30 p.m.      3:30 p.m.       W 4x100  FINAL          (Aaliyah Brown, Simone Facey, Jennifer Madu – relay pool)
      9:50 p.m.      3:50 p.m.       M 4x100 FINAL          (Michael Bryan, Shavez Hart – relay pool)