Alum Bastien Qualifies for Tokyo Olympics in Decathlon
6/21/2021 10:26:00 AM | Men's Track & Field
EUGENE, Ore. -- In what can only be described as the performance of a lifetime, University of Michigan men's track and field alum Steven Bastien went from "Olympic hopeful" to "Olympian" as he earned a spot on Team USA for the decathlon at the upcoming Tokyo Olympics over the course of two days at the U.S. Olympic Trials on Saturday and Sunday (June 19-20).
On the strength of a remarkable seven personal-best efforts among the 10 components of the decathlon -- and an early clutch long jump effort that averted disaster -- Bastien racked up 8,485 points to finish second overall in the decathlon competition, improving on his previous personal best in the event by an astounding 462 points and moving to No. 4 in the world for the 2021 season.
In finishing top-three and achieving the 8,350-point qualifying standard needed to secure his berth to the Olympics, the five-time All-American and two-time Big Ten champion Bastien punched his ticket to Tokyo. He became just the third Michigan decathlete to make the Olympics, joining Ken Doherty from 1928 and Eeles Landstrom from 1952.
His qualification officially lengthened to 28 the streak of consecutive Olympic Games in which the University of Michigan has been represented in track and field.
Competing on the same Hayward Field track as his first-ever 8,000-point performance at the 2017 NCAA Outdoor Championships -- albeit in much different surrounding thanks to the facility's significant overhaul ahead of the 2022 World Athletics Championships -- Bastien turned in one of the greatest decathlon performances in American history as he moved up to No. 10 on the all-time USA list.
Bastien opened the weekend on Saturday with a 10.52-second (+1.8m/s) run at 100 meters -- the best in the field -- that eclipsed his previous personal best by 0.09 seconds. On the points table that is the heart of the decathlon scoring system, the new PB for Bastien was worth 21 more points than his previous record.
Things nearly went sideways early for Bastien in the long jump, just the second of 10 events in the decathlon. Just as he did in 2017, he flirted with disaster as his first two attempts were both fouls, leaving him just one final attempt to put a mark on the board and stay alive in the competition. Though his 7.20m (23 foot, 7.5 inch, -0.3m/s wind) leap was well shy of his lifetime best by nearly half a meter, the 862 points he garnered from it were far better than the alternative as he remained alive in sixth place.
He notched another personal-best effort in the shot put, again on his final attempt, as he scored 757 points on a 14.47m (47-5.75) throw for a 36-centimeter and 22-point improvement on his previous career best. Additionally, it was an improvement of more than half a meter and 32 points over his opening throw on the day. He remained in sixth overall after the event.
In the high jump, he twice exceeded his previous outdoor PR of 2.04m (6-8.25) with second-attempt makes at 2.05m (6-8.75) and 2.08m (6-9.75) -- the latter bettering his indoor PR of 2.07m (6-9.5). The result netted him 878 points and pushed him up to fourth with only one event remaining on the first day.
Though he did not close out the day with a personal best at 400 meters, his 47.79 was the only sub-48.00-second run of anyone among the 15 remaining competitors, and it was his best effort at that distance since 2018. With the 919 points from that performance, he moved up to third at the midway point with 4,386 points.
Bastien kicked off the second half of the competition on Sunday on the right foot, running a wind-legal career-best 14.24 seconds (+1.9m/s) in the 110-meter hurdles to add 944 points to his total. He remained in third overall in the standings.
Unlike in previous field-event efforts on the weekend, Bastien put his best foot forward first in the discus with a 42.10m (138-1) heave that earned him 707 points. It was the third-best throw of his career, though he did drop to fourth given his position middle-of-the-pack in the event.
Next facing an event in the pole vault that had scuttled multiple of his combined-event competitions in college -- including the 2017 NCAA Indoor Championships heptathlon -- Bastien passed through the competition with flying colors. He needed second attempts just twice in the six bars en route to a first-attempt clearance at a career-best-tying 4.95m (16-2.75) height that earned him 895 points. His vaulting kept him in fourth place overall as the end of the decathlon approached, with a potential top-three finish and the Olympics standard coming into clearer focus after each passing event.
Bastien unfurled his biggest personal best in the penultimate javelin event, as he launched a 61.20m (200-9) shot on his third-and-final attempt for 756 points. Not only was the heave a nearly four-meter and 60-point improvement on his lifetime best, more importantly it added nearly seven meters and 102 points over his only other legal effort of the day at 54.43m (178-7) in the opening round. Take away those points and his final margin over the Olympics qualifying standard becomes far narrower.
Entering the decathlon finale 1,500 meters, Bastien had moved up to third with 7,688 points. He needed only to run 4:43 to reach the qualifying standard -- a time he had failed to achieve only three times in his entire career -- and to finish within 16 seconds of fourth-place Harrison Williams, whose personal best was only two seconds faster than Bastien's.
He left no doubt on either count, as he slashed seven seconds off his PR with a 4:22.21 for 797 points and put 10 seconds on Williams in the final lap as he sprinted down the homestretch toward the realization of his Olympic dream.
At the conclusion, Bastien had moved past former collegiate rival Zach Ziemek for second place overall by 14 points, and finished just 162 points shy of the Olympic Trials title claimed by another collegiate rival in Garrett Scantling. The three former competitors will now comprise Team USA in the decathlon.
Bastien will don the red, white and blue in Tokyo from Aug. 4-5, as he pursues Olympic glory in the decathlon.
