Dream realized
in final event
Munich.
II worked a miracle for Bruce Jenner—a 22-year-old from tiny
Graceland College in laimuni. Iowa.
The obscure decathlete burst by the leaders in the 1500 meters
Tuesday the final event in the Olympic Trials decathlon-and
slashed nine seconds off his lifetime best, running 4:16.9.
For Jenner, who ranked no better than fifth or sixth in the nation this
season coming into the Trials, it was good enough to make the team.
“I gotta call my parents," he laughed, still searching for an ex
planation to his storybook finale.
I was 11th after the first day and I told them I had a chance for
maybe fifth or sixth.”
Ilis prediction would have bee . much closer if it hadn’t been for a
fine 207-31 i heave in the javelin, the ninth of 10 grueling events. It gave
him hoo points and suddenly he found himself in fifth place, behind Jeff
Bannister. Jeff Bennett, Steve Gough, and Fred Samara.
It was 127 points from the Olympics.
"I never thought 1 had a chance until I heard the scores after the
javelin," he said.
"When 1 started the 1500,1 knew I had a chance."
It meant a frantic finish after 13 hours of competition in Hayward’s
searing 95-degree temperatures
Bannister and Bennett could coast with their places secured. For
Gough, Samara, Andrew Pettes, and Jenner, it decided everything
Jenner ran a 2:22 first half and wasdisatisfied with the pace.
“I thought it was too slow I wanted about a 2:17.
Then, with little less than a lap left, the PE major from Sandy
Brook, Conn, made his run to Munich.
He blew past Bennett and Bannister and opened up a 35-yard lead.
To secure third place, he would need a mark six seconds under his
lifetime best
Instead he ran nine seconds faster, got 682 points, and was
America’s third man in this event by a scant 24 points over Gough
Bannister, the champion with a world leading 8120, was surprised at
the way it came out
■ I wouldn’t have bet on it," he smiled. "I guess the guy who was in
the best shape came through ”
But Jenncr's performance, which must rank as one of the most
inspiring of the Trials, was perhaps better explained by Army's
Bennett the runnerup.
Somebody told him of Jenner’s feat—chopping nearly 10 seconds off
a lifetime best
He nodded "You can do that when you have to though I took six
seconds off mine at the AAU (to win).
"To tell you the truth,” said Bennett, “I thought anybody’d win but
who won I was thinking about Gough and Pettis. 1 didn’t even consider
Jenner.
Few did
"My first day was decent, but not exceptional,” said the jubilant
Jenner "I didn't have any exceptional events except the 1500."
Ilis previous best was 7678 points in the decathlon, and as late as the
NAIA championships he was an unheralded third place.
And as late as 12V4 hours into the competition, nobody gave him a
thought.
But in an Olympic year, storybook finishes arc the order of the day.
Olympic team
Decathlon
1. JEFF BANNISTER, 8120
2. JEFF BENNETT, 8076
3. BRUCE JENNER, 7846
4. STEVE GOUGH, 7822
(alternate)
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