Setting two personal-best marks in his quest for an Olympic medal, Zach Ziemek of Itasca sat in ninth place early Thursday after the first seven events in the men’s decathlon.
Damian Warner of Canada was first with 6,610 points, followed by Australia’s Ashley Moloney with 6,359. Canadian Pierce LePage was in third with 6,265, just 269 points ahead of Ziemek at 5,996.
Ziemek’s American teammates Garrett Scantling and Stephen Bastien were in fifth and 11th place, respectively. The United States has won decathlon gold in the last three Olympics and has claimed a medal of some kind in the last seven.
“Everyone always shoots for higher, but I’m definitely in medal contention,” Ziemek said after his Day 1 performance Wednesday, when he was in seventh place. “And I plan to stay that way (Thursday) too.”
More Top Picks Washing Machines
Ziemek, 28, a Lake Park High School graduate, set personal-best marks in the shot put and 100-meter dash Wednesday. He also finished the 400-meter run with a season-best time of 49.06 seconds.
“I had a really good day in a couple of events,” he said. “My jumping events were not where I wanted them to be, but that’s the beauty of the decathlon. There are some events up and some down.”
The decathlon — long described as a competition to determine the world’s greatest athlete — will conclude Thursday with the pole vault, javelin and 1,500-meter run still to come. Pole vault is considered the strongest of Ziemek’s 10 events.
Sign up for alerts on your phone, desktop and inbox to stay current with the latest news
Sign up for our sports newsletter, delivered daily each morning