Timaru’s Wayne Doyle has topped off another busy season by winning the decathlon at the Oceania Masters Athletic Championships in Tauranga.
Competing against 12 others, including the New Zealand record holder, Doyle ran, jumped and threw his way to a hard-fought victory.
However, Doyle did not have it all his own way. He was tied with record-holder Steve Te Whaiti, of Tauranga, on 5409 points after nine of the 10 events.
“It was the most exciting decathlon I had ever competed in,” Doyle said.
“I was trailing by 180 points after the first day, but knew that I should be able to gain some good points in the discus and javelin on day two.”
With a personal best of 19.47 seconds in the 110m hurdles, a 3m clearance in the pole vault and an elbow-wrenching 45.01m javelin throw, he drew level with the leader.
That was after clearing 1.55m in the high jump, securing 11.19m in the shot put and running 59.47s in the 400m.
Doyle said he expected to be beaten in the final 1500m race.
“Steve is a much faster sprinter than me,” he said.
“Going into the last lap I was tucked in behind him, then with 150m to go, I unleashed every last ounce of energy that I had, taking him by surprise.
“I just gritted my teeth and ran myself into the ground, collapsing as I crossed the finish line only metres ahead of a stunned Steve. It was awesome.”
He also landed a special bonus.
Doyle’s total broke the Oceania decathlon record for his 45-49 age group.
Veteran athlete Ron Munro also competed in Tauranga, performing well in the 60m, 100m, and 200m sprints and long jump.
