Czech decathlete Roman Sebrle misses out on gold medal in Helsinki

One of the Czech Republic's greatest athletes, Roman Sebrle, has seen his dream of a first gold medal at the World Athletic Championships dashed, after he was beaten into second place in the decathlon on Wednesday by his greatest rival, Bryan Clay of the USA. At the beginning of day two of the decathlon things looked good for the Olympic champion, but poor performances in some disciplines meant Sebrle had, in the end, to settle for silver.

Roman Sebrle, photo: CTK

Things started going wrong for Roman Sebrle on Tuesday evening, when Bryan Clay edged past him with a brilliant performance in the last event of day one, the 400 m. The gap was only 14 points, however, and Sebrle must have felt he could overtake his biggest rival.

But things went wrong from the off on Wednesday, with a poor performance from the Czech in the opening 110 m hurdles. He also failed to achieve his usual standards in other disciplines like the discus and the javelin. By the last event of the decathlon, the 1500 m, it was simply too late for Roman Sebrle to catch Bryan Clay.

Why did Sebrle perform so poorly in some disciplines? He says the poor weather in Helsinki was a factor.

Roman Sebrle and Bryan Clay, photo: CTK

"It started raining during the high jump and the competition was stopped for a while. After that my jumps were pretty poor, but you could say things went badly for the whole of the second day. It was 10 degrees cooler, and the older I get the less I like competing in the cold...I think a silver medal is still excellent, but of course it's always better to be going for gold."

Before the Championships the world record holder said he would only be satisfied with gold. But he took defeat graciously, perhaps partly because Bryan Clay is a friend of his; he has stayed at the American athlete's home in the US.

After several disciplines Sebrle looked frustrated, but at the end of the day he was smiling and happy to be photographed with the winner.

Tomas Dvorak, photo: CTK

"Immediately after the decathlon I felt good. Somebody else performed better than me - it's as simple as that. That's just part of sport. Some day I would like to complete my medals collection with a World Championships gold. At least I've got some motivation for future competitions...I'm satisfied. Bryan came here in better form than me, and I hope I'll manage to win next time."

Roman Sebrle wasn't the only Czech in action in the decathlon. Three-time world champion Tomas Dvorak, who is 33, has suffered from a series of injuries in recent years, but he gave a good account of himself in Helsinki.

Dvorak's aim was to finish in the top ten, so he was satisfied with eighth place. Dvorak was clearly enjoying himself, dancing with joy when he did well and generally playing to the crowd and the TV cameras.