Ayden Owens-Delerme currently second in Olympic decathlon

Completing the first day of the Paris Olympics decathlon, Arkansas alum Ayden Owens-Delerme is currently in second place with a score of 4,608 points.

Saint-Denis, France – Track and field’s first day at Stade de France in the Paris Olympics included a world record of 3 minutes, 7.41 seconds in the prelims of the mixed 4 x 400m relay as Razorback 19-year-old Kaylyn Brown anchored the stellar effort with a 49.45 split.

The previous world record of 3:08.80 was set by the United States at the 2023 World Championships in Budapest, Hungary. Razorback Rosey Effiong ran second leg on the winning effort.

Completing the first day of the decathlon, Arkansas alum Ayden Owens-Delerme is currently in second place with a score of 4,608 points. Germany’s Leo Neugebauer leads the field with a tally of 4,650 points. Norway’s Sander Skotheim is third at 4,588 while Canada’s Damian Warner is fourth with 4,561.

Arkansas alum Shafiqua Maloney improved her St. Vincent & the Grenadines 800m national record as she advanced to the semifinal with a 1:58.23 to place third in her heat. The previous 800m national records set by Maloney included 1:59.31 outdoors and 1:58.69 indoors.

Team USA, who also bettered the mixed relay Olympic record of 3:09.87 set by Poland in Tokyo, had an all-SEC line-up in shattering the world record. Vernon Norwood (LSU) led off the relay with a 44.47 split. Shamier Little (Texas A&M) posted the fastest women’s split in the race with a 49.32 and fellow Aggie Bryce Deadmon produced a 44.17 third leg.

Finishing behind the Americans in the first heat with national record times were France (3:10.60), Belgium (3:10.74), and Jamaica (3:11.06). Poland (3:11.43) finished fifth in the heat and advanced to the final.

Great Britain won the second heat in a national record of 3:10.61 over the Netherlands (3:10.81) and Italy (3:11.59).

Owens-Delerme finished off the day by posting the top time in the 400m as his 46.17 scored 1,000 points. While the Olympic record in the decathlon 400m is 45.68 from Mexico City, the low-altitude best is 46.07, which Owens-Delerme came within a tenth of a second.

The day started with Owens-Delerme running 10.35 in the 100m for 1,011 points, just behind the 10.25 for Warner, who scored 1,035. A long jump of 25-1.75 (7.66) followed for Owens-Delerme on his third attempt to pick up 975 points. In the shot put 800 points were added to his score from a 49-9.25 (15.17) toss.

Following a break from the morning to evening session, the decathlon high jump had Owens-Delerme clearing 6-7.5 (2.02) for 822 points.

Qualifying for the shot put final on Saturday had Ryan Crouser fourth overall with a mark of 70-6.25 (21.49) with one attempt. Italy’s Leonardo Fabbri, who recently won the London Diamond League, led the field with a 71-4.75 (21.76) effort.

Racing in the same 800m heat as Maloney, Razorback Sanu Jallow placed seventh with a time of 2:03.91. She will race in a repechage round on Saturday where the top finisher in each of the three heats, plus the next two fastest times overall, advance to the semifinal.

In setting a national record in the prelims, Maloney was among the leaders at 400m with a 56.5 split she shared with Kenya’s Mary Moraa. Ethiopia’s Tsige Duguma won the heat in 1:57.90 with Moraa runner-up at 1:57.95 as they delivered the leading pair of times among the field.

In high jump qualifying, Rachel Glenn cleared two bars on first attempts, 6-0 (1.83) and 6-2 (1.88), then had three misses at 6-3.5 (1.92), which ended up being the height needed to reach the final.

Glenn tied for eighth place in her group and finished in a four-way tie for 15th overall.