EUGENE, Oregon: Reigning Olympic decathlon champion Bryan Clay stumbled over the penultimate hurdle in the 110m hurdles yesterday at the US Olympic trials, severely hurting his hope of making the London Games.
Clay planted his left foot into the crossbar of the hurdle and stumbled to catch his footing as he fell forward, knocking down the last hurdle and finally crossing the finish line in 16.81 seconds, last overall, for only 644 points.
Overall leader Ashton Eaton, who won the heptathlon at this year’s world championships and was second in last year’s decathlon at the outdoor worlds, won the heat in 13.70 to win for the fifth time in six events for 1,014 points.
Reigning world champion Trey Hardee was second in the heat and overall in 13.71 for 1,012 points to remain second overall in the competition with Eaton on 5,742 and Hardee next at 5,418.
Clay, who had been third overall after day one, plunged from third to sixth after the hurdles with 4,896 points.
Clay stumbles to hurt London hopes
