Men's Track and Field Olympic Updates: Bastien, Willis Wrap Up Competition
8/5/2021 12:18:00 PM | Men's Track & Field, Olympics
• Tokyo Olympics Site | U-M Olympics Coverage
Thursday, Aug. 5
The likely final chapter of Nick Willis' legendary Olympic career was written in the 1,500-meter semifinals on Thursday (Aug. 5), while the first of what Steven Bastien hopes will be more chapters to come in his Olympic story came to its conclusion on the second day of the decathlon.
Despite running a season's best 3:35.41, Willis of New Zealand finished ninth in his heat and missed the qualification threshold for the final. The 2008 bronze and 2016 silver medalist came up short in his quest to become the first four-time male Olympic 1,500-meter finalist and, at more than 38 years of age, the oldest ever.
He settled in near the back of the pack early in the race, running along the rail to minimize the distance covered in the race. As the bell rang for the final lap, he started to move up in the field, just in time to get pulled along in a breakaway lead group as they pushed toward the finish with 300 meters to go. As the field made the turn onto the homestretch, Willis was unable to pick off two more runners to put himself in position for one of the two non-automatic qualifying spots. At the end of the day, both non-auto qualifiers came from the following heat.
When both heats' results were merged together, Willis had finished 19th overall in what will likely be the final Olympic appearance of one of the all-time greats.
Nick Willis (left, Getty Images)
The American Bastien battled through adversity and injury on the final day of the decathlon to clinch a 10th-place finish with a score of 8,236 points. He was one of three Americans in the top 10, including fourth-place Garrett Scantling and sixth-place Zach Ziemek.
Bastien opened the day with a strong 14.42 (-1.0m/s) in the 110-meter hurdles, less than a quarter-second shy of his career best in the event. The performance earned him 921 points, putting him down a couple spots to sixth in the overall standings at 5,290 points.
The day started to get away from Bastien in the ensuing events. Just as he did in day one's second event, the long jump, he fouled twice on his first two throws in the discus to leave himself in another do-or-die third-attempt scenario. He came through with a 40.77m (133-9) for 680 points -- nearly two meters shy of his personal best. The result, which was 20th-best of the 21 men in the field, dropped him to 11th in the standings with 5,290 points.
Disaster struck in the pole vault. After clearing 4.60m (15-1) on his second attempt, Bastien suffered a snapped pole during his first attempt at 4.70m (15-5). Shortly after his plant and before rocking back to generate the height of his vault, his pole broke approximately three feet from the bottom. The tremendous released tension caused him to violently lose his grip, and he came away shaking his right hand in pain. He retired from the vault competition with his 4.60m clearance -- well shy of his 4.95m (16-2.75) career best -- for 790 points, as he remained 11th overall at 6,760 points.
Despite the discomfort in his hand, he still put up a strong series in the javelin, culminating in a 58.21m (190-11) heave on his third attempt surpassed in his career only by his lifetime-best throw from the Olympic Trials. It earned him 711 points, keeping him 11th overall at 7,471 points.
He finished on a high note as he recorded the fastest time of anyone in the field in the 10th-and-final event, the 1,500 meters, crossing the line in 4:26.95. After leading early, he fell to third with 400 meters to go. He was up to second turning onto the homestretch and covered the last 100 meters in less than 15 seconds to sprint home for the victory. The performance was worth 765 points and was the second-fastest of his career.
• Nick Willis (1,500-meter Run Semifinals): 9th, semifinal 1 (3:35.41) -- 19th overall
• Steven Bastien (Decathlon): 10th (8,236 points)
» 110m Hurdles: 14.42 (921 points) | Results and Video
» Discus: 40.77m (680) | Results and Video
» Pole Vault: 4.60m (790) | Results and Video
» Javelin: 58.21m (711) | Results and Video
» 1,500m Run: 4:26.95 (765) | Results and Video
• Results and Video: 1,500m Run
Steve Bastien (USATSI)
Wednesday, Aug. 4
In his debut Olympic appearance, Steven Bastien (USA) is more than holding his own in the decathlon competition as he finished the first of two days in fourth place with 4,369 points. Bastien is 160 points outside of the medals, with seven men -- including world record-holder Kevin Meyer of France -- within 100 points in the other direction.
It was an eventful first five events for the multiple-time Michigan All-American, including a pair of significant third-attempt performances in the field and a season's best to close out the day on the track. He began the session with a solid 10.69 (+0.2m/s) effort at 100 meters to net 931 points, good for 10th place through one event.
Just as happened at the 2017 NCAA Outdoor Championships and the 2021 Olympic Trials, his decathlon nearly went off the rails early in the long jump. After fouling his first two attempts, he was left with just one opportunity to record a mark to stay alive in the competition. He delivered with a strong 7.39m (24-3) leap to net himself another 908 points, moving up to sixth overall.
He also recorded just one legal attempt in the shot put event, but it was a 14.40m (47-3) heave on his second attempt that landed just seven centimeters shy of his lifetime best for 753 points. Given the relative strength of the rest of the field in this event compared to Bastien, he slipped back down to 10th overall.
After a lengthy scheduled midday break, the decathletes were back in action in the high jump, where Bastien again came through in the clutch. He was perfect through his first four bars all the way to 2.02m (6-7.5) but missed twice in a row at 2.05m (6-8.75). Needing a make on his third and final attempt to raise the bar, he delivered with room to spare. It was not to be for Bastien at a career-best-tying 2.08m (6-9.75), though he only just bumped the bar off with his calves on all three attempts despite having the requisite hip height for a clearance.
The strong jumping -- sixth-best in the field -- earned him 850 points, including an additional 28 from his third-attempt make. Entering the final event of the day, he had moved up to sixth place with 3,442 points. An indication of how tight the competition was: without those additional 28 points, he would have remained tied for 10th.
He saved his best performance relative to the field for last, as he clocked a 47.64 season's best over 400 meters -- the fourth-fastest among the 22 men who finished the event -- to earn 927 points.
Day two of the decathlon resumes at 9:16 a.m. local time on Thursday (8:16 p.m. EDT Wednesday) with the 110-meter hurdles on USA Network. The final five events will also include the discus, pole vault, javelin and 1,500 meters. The competition is expected to conclude Thursday at 9:40 p.m. local time (8:40 a.m. EDT).
• Steven Bastien (Decathlon): 4th (4,369 points) after Day 1
» 100m Dash: 10.69 (931 points) | Results and Video
» Long Jump 7.39m (908) | Results and Video
» Shot Put: 14.40m (753) | Results and Video
» High Jump: 2.05m (850) | Results and Video
» 400m Run: 47.64 (927) | Results and Video
Nick Willis (Getty Images)
Tuesday, Aug. 3
Nick Willis drew upon his nearly two decades of world-class running experience to run a tactically sound race and advance to the semifinals of the 1,500-meter competition as he kicked off his fifth straight Olympics. New Zealand's 38-year-old two-time Olympic medalist ran his fastest race of the season at 3:36.88, finishing seventh in his heat and 14th overall as he earned the second of six non-automatic qualifying spots to the semifinals.
After running from the front early on, Willis was running sixth at the bell sounding for the last lap -- positioned just inside the six automatic berths into the semifinals -- with several others running right on his heels. Halfway through the final lap, Willis appeared to be going backward as he had dropped to eighth with only the curve and the homestretch to go. He tucked himself along the rail to minimize the distance he would have to cover in the closing stretch, but he was unable to find much space to maneuver in the bunched-up pack and could not climb any higher in the field than seventh.
Willis, a two-time Olympic medalist who has advanced to the 1,500 semifinals in each of his five Olympic appearances, will been seeking his fourth straight final appearance when the semifinals are contested Thursday (Aug. 5) starting at 8 p.m. local time (7 a.m. EDT).
• Nick Willis (1,500-meter Run Round 1): 7th, heat 3 (3:36.88) -- advanced to semifinals
• Results and Video (NBCOlympics.com)
Mason Ferlic (USATSI)
Friday, July 30
In his Olympic debut, Mason Ferlic of the United States ran 8:20.23 for 21st overall and eighth in his heat of the 3,000-meter steeplechase in a sprint to the finish Friday morning (July 30) at Olympic Stadium. He remained alive for a non-automatic qualifying berth for the final after his heat but was eliminated after the results of heat two were finalized.
After settling in at the back of the pack early in the race, Ferlic steadily moved his way up despite the quick early pace, picking off a runner each lap in the early going to move up to 10th halfway through the race. That is where he would stay through the second of three kilometers, with the pack stretched out.
Shortly after that split, the lead group broke in two, and Ferlic had to make a big move to try to bridge the gap up to the top seven runners. At the bell he still had not made contact with the lead group, but he was in pursuit of the seventh-place runner. That battle continued all the way to the finish line, as Ferlic tried to run down France's Djilali Bedrani but was just edged out by .003 (8:20.223 to 8:20.226).
• Mason Ferlic (3,000-meter Steeplechase Round 1): 8th, heat 1 (8:20.23) -- 21st overall
• Results and Video
