Photo by: Errol Anderson
Lindon Victor wins decathlon gold medal at Commonwealth Games
Apr 10, 2018 | Track and Field
GOLD COAST, Australia – Aggie alum Lindon Victor scored 8,303 points in securing the decathlon gold medal at the Commonwealth Games on Tuesday and became the first athlete from Grenada to win the event.
Bralon Taplin, another Texas A&M alum representing Grenada, reached the final of the 400m where he placed fifth with a time of 45.38 seconds. Fabrice Lapierre of Australia advanced to the long jump final as the 12th and final qualifier.
Victor's tally is the best score in the Commonwealth Games since 1998. He also set meet records for the discus and javelin in the multi-event.
"I'm looking forward to starting my professional year," stated Victor. "I was a little below my personal record, but it's early in the season."
Runner-up to Victor with a career best score of 8,171 points was Canadian Pierce Lepage while Australia's Cedric Dubler finished third with 7,983 points. Victor's brother, Kurt Felix, finished fourth with 7,756 points in the competition after earning a bronze medal at the 2014 Commonwealth Games with 8,070 points.
Defending gold medalist Damian Wariner of Canada led the Gold Coast competition heading into the eighth discipline, the pole vault, where a no height at 14-9 (4.50) dropped him to sixth place with the javelin and 1,500m remaining.
"It's not the way I wanted to win, with Damian having three fouls, but I prayed for the gold medal," said Victor. "It's 10 events, not nine. It's the nature of the decathlon."
Wariner won the 2014 Commonwealth Gold with 8,282 points, and produced a national record of 8,695 points during a silver-medal performance at the 2015 World Championships. He also scored 8,666 points as the bronze medalist during the Rio Olympics in 2016.
The decathlon started with Victor running 10.70 (0.1 wind) in the 100m for 929 points, which was fourth best among the field of 12 entrants. A long jump of 23-9 (7.24) followed for 871 points to give Victor a two-event score of 1,800 points.
Victor moved from fourth place to second place as he scored 838 points with a leading shot put mark of 51-9 ¾ (15.79). A clearance of 6-7 (2.01) picked up 813 points in the high jump while a 49.48 in the 400m added 839 points to leave Victor with a first-day total of 4,290 points and in fourth place.
Opening the second day with a 14.87 (0.3 wind) in the 110m hurdles, Victor scored 865 points as he remained in fourth place with 5,155 points. A record discus toss of 171-8 (52.32) to better his previous Commonwealth record of 168-3 (51.29), set in 2014, earned 919 points and moved Victor into second place with 6,074 points as he trailed the 6,297 total for Wariner.
As the pole vault eliminated Wariner from the competition, Victor cleared 15-1 (4.60) for 790 points (6864 total) to remain in second place, just 25 points behind Lepage (6,889). Another throwing event, though, propelled Victor into the lead as he threw the javelin 233-3 (71.10) for 906 points. That effort bettered the previous meet record for the decathlon javelin of 227-3 (69.27) set by Jason Dudley of Australia in 2006.
Heading into the final event with 7,770 points, Victor held a 170-point lead over Lepage (7,600). A 5:04.75 in the 1,500m secured the victory for Victor as he added an international title to the pair of NCAA decathlon championships he claimed in 2016 and 2017 along with the two collegiate records he set during a stellar senior campaign.
The winning score of 8,303 points ranks sixth on Victor's incredible list of decathlons over the past three seasons. His career best and collegiate record of 8,539 won the 2017 SEC title and is followed by the previous collegiate record of 8,472 he established in winning the 2017 Texas Relays. In 2016 he won the SEC title with an 8,446 tally while his pair of NCAA title scores of 8,390 (2017) and 8,379 (2016) rank fourth and fifth.
Taplin advanced to the 400m final off a 45.11 prelim victory from lane one, along with a 45.44 section win in the semifinal. Stationed in lane five for the final, Taplin was in second place through 300m.
Botswana finished 1-2 with the combo of Isaac Makwala (44.35) and Baboloki Thebe (45.09) while Jamaica's Javan Francis (45.11) placed third. India's Muhammad Anas Yahiya set a national record of 45.31 in placing fourth ahead of Taplin's 45.38.
Lapierre, twice a long jump medalist at the Commonwealth Games in 2006 (bronze) and 2010 (gold), nearly missed qualifying for his fourth final in this meet. He opened with a 24-9 (7.54) and then fouled his next attempt.
A third round mark of 25-5 ½ (7.76) initially placed Lapierre ninth overall, but he dropped into the 12th and last qualifying position as the field was completed. Another Aggie alum in the field, Melvin Echard competing for Grenada, placed 20th overall with a mark of 23-11 (7.29) among a field of 28 jumpers.
Australian Henry Frayne led the long jump qualifying group with a career best and Commonwealth record of 27-4 ½ (8.34), which surpassed the previous record of 27-2 ¾ (8.30) established by Lapierre when he won the gold medal in 2010.
In the 13th position behind Lapierre was Jamaica's Shawn-D Thompson with a leap of 25-2 ¾ (7.69), which is the longest qualifying mark not to advance to the final of a Commonwealth Games. The long jump final will be held on Friday, April 11.
Kanika Beckles of Grenada advanced to the semifinal of the women's 400m, running 53.34 to place fourth in her heat of the prelims and a 53.80 for sixth place from lane one in the semifinal to finish 16th overall.
Jennifer Madu, representing Nigeria, advanced to the semifinal of the women's 100m. She posted a time of 11.62w (2.1 wind) in placing third in her prelim and then finished fifth in a semifinal with an 11.59 (0.5 wind) to place 11th overall. Shavez Hart of the Bahamas ran 10.53 to place third in a prelim heat of the men's 100m.
Bralon Taplin, another Texas A&M alum representing Grenada, reached the final of the 400m where he placed fifth with a time of 45.38 seconds. Fabrice Lapierre of Australia advanced to the long jump final as the 12th and final qualifier.
Victor's tally is the best score in the Commonwealth Games since 1998. He also set meet records for the discus and javelin in the multi-event.
"I'm looking forward to starting my professional year," stated Victor. "I was a little below my personal record, but it's early in the season."
Runner-up to Victor with a career best score of 8,171 points was Canadian Pierce Lepage while Australia's Cedric Dubler finished third with 7,983 points. Victor's brother, Kurt Felix, finished fourth with 7,756 points in the competition after earning a bronze medal at the 2014 Commonwealth Games with 8,070 points.
Defending gold medalist Damian Wariner of Canada led the Gold Coast competition heading into the eighth discipline, the pole vault, where a no height at 14-9 (4.50) dropped him to sixth place with the javelin and 1,500m remaining.
"It's not the way I wanted to win, with Damian having three fouls, but I prayed for the gold medal," said Victor. "It's 10 events, not nine. It's the nature of the decathlon."
Wariner won the 2014 Commonwealth Gold with 8,282 points, and produced a national record of 8,695 points during a silver-medal performance at the 2015 World Championships. He also scored 8,666 points as the bronze medalist during the Rio Olympics in 2016.
The decathlon started with Victor running 10.70 (0.1 wind) in the 100m for 929 points, which was fourth best among the field of 12 entrants. A long jump of 23-9 (7.24) followed for 871 points to give Victor a two-event score of 1,800 points.
Victor moved from fourth place to second place as he scored 838 points with a leading shot put mark of 51-9 ¾ (15.79). A clearance of 6-7 (2.01) picked up 813 points in the high jump while a 49.48 in the 400m added 839 points to leave Victor with a first-day total of 4,290 points and in fourth place.
Opening the second day with a 14.87 (0.3 wind) in the 110m hurdles, Victor scored 865 points as he remained in fourth place with 5,155 points. A record discus toss of 171-8 (52.32) to better his previous Commonwealth record of 168-3 (51.29), set in 2014, earned 919 points and moved Victor into second place with 6,074 points as he trailed the 6,297 total for Wariner.
As the pole vault eliminated Wariner from the competition, Victor cleared 15-1 (4.60) for 790 points (6864 total) to remain in second place, just 25 points behind Lepage (6,889). Another throwing event, though, propelled Victor into the lead as he threw the javelin 233-3 (71.10) for 906 points. That effort bettered the previous meet record for the decathlon javelin of 227-3 (69.27) set by Jason Dudley of Australia in 2006.
Heading into the final event with 7,770 points, Victor held a 170-point lead over Lepage (7,600). A 5:04.75 in the 1,500m secured the victory for Victor as he added an international title to the pair of NCAA decathlon championships he claimed in 2016 and 2017 along with the two collegiate records he set during a stellar senior campaign.
The winning score of 8,303 points ranks sixth on Victor's incredible list of decathlons over the past three seasons. His career best and collegiate record of 8,539 won the 2017 SEC title and is followed by the previous collegiate record of 8,472 he established in winning the 2017 Texas Relays. In 2016 he won the SEC title with an 8,446 tally while his pair of NCAA title scores of 8,390 (2017) and 8,379 (2016) rank fourth and fifth.
Taplin advanced to the 400m final off a 45.11 prelim victory from lane one, along with a 45.44 section win in the semifinal. Stationed in lane five for the final, Taplin was in second place through 300m.
Botswana finished 1-2 with the combo of Isaac Makwala (44.35) and Baboloki Thebe (45.09) while Jamaica's Javan Francis (45.11) placed third. India's Muhammad Anas Yahiya set a national record of 45.31 in placing fourth ahead of Taplin's 45.38.
Lapierre, twice a long jump medalist at the Commonwealth Games in 2006 (bronze) and 2010 (gold), nearly missed qualifying for his fourth final in this meet. He opened with a 24-9 (7.54) and then fouled his next attempt.
A third round mark of 25-5 ½ (7.76) initially placed Lapierre ninth overall, but he dropped into the 12th and last qualifying position as the field was completed. Another Aggie alum in the field, Melvin Echard competing for Grenada, placed 20th overall with a mark of 23-11 (7.29) among a field of 28 jumpers.
Australian Henry Frayne led the long jump qualifying group with a career best and Commonwealth record of 27-4 ½ (8.34), which surpassed the previous record of 27-2 ¾ (8.30) established by Lapierre when he won the gold medal in 2010.
In the 13th position behind Lapierre was Jamaica's Shawn-D Thompson with a leap of 25-2 ¾ (7.69), which is the longest qualifying mark not to advance to the final of a Commonwealth Games. The long jump final will be held on Friday, April 11.
Kanika Beckles of Grenada advanced to the semifinal of the women's 400m, running 53.34 to place fourth in her heat of the prelims and a 53.80 for sixth place from lane one in the semifinal to finish 16th overall.
Jennifer Madu, representing Nigeria, advanced to the semifinal of the women's 100m. She posted a time of 11.62w (2.1 wind) in placing third in her prelim and then finished fifth in a semifinal with an 11.59 (0.5 wind) to place 11th overall. Shavez Hart of the Bahamas ran 10.53 to place third in a prelim heat of the men's 100m.
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