The Drake Relays is an outdoor track and field event held in Des Moines, Iowa, United States, in Drake Stadium on the campus of Drake University. It has grown to become one of the largest and most important meets in United States, attracting top university and professional talent alike.

Barely 100 spectators and nearly the same number of competitors were on hand for the first Drake Relays in 1910 - a stark contrast to the full stadium that now greets more than 8,000 participants competing during the two main days of the meet.

Not Just A Meet[link]

The Drake Relays are a celebrated tradition^{[citation needed]} not only by students and alumni, but by the surrounding Iowa community. While Drake does have a traditional homecoming in the fall, the school celebrates and treats the Relays as their actual homecoming. Alumni return to campus, and students and the community alike celebrate the pride and tradition the track meet brings.

While the track meet is held for a single weekend near the end of April, celebrations and events begin on campus almost 3 weeks prior.

Relays Directors[link]

Eleven men have claimed the role of director of the Drake Relays since the very first officially organized track and field event took place at this state university almost 100 years ago back in the year 1910. Last year, in 2009, the day before the 100th anniversary of the relays, there was a phenomenal firework show put on by the area Girl Scouts to honor the Veterans of wars past fought.

• John L. Griffith 1910-1918
  Griffith was the founder of the Drake Relays. He remained director for 9 years and moved to the University of Illinois after World War I. He later became commissioner of the Big Ten Conference.

• M.B. Banks 1919-1921
  Banks also served as coach to the Drake football and basketball teams.

• K.L. (Tug) Wilson 1922-1925
  Wilson was a former Illinois and Olympic athlete. After his tenure as director, he went on to become athletic director at Northwestern University. Wilson was also a former Big Ten Conference commissioner.

• O.M. (Ossie) Solem 1926-1932
  Longtime Drake coach succeeded Wilson, but left to become head football coach at the University of Iowa, and later at Syracuse University.

• F.P. (Pitch) Johnson 1933-1940

• M.E. (Bill) Easton 1941-1947

• Tom Deckard 1948-1955

• Bob Karnes 1956-1969

• Bob Ehrhart 1970-2000

• Mark Kostek 2001-2005

• Brian Brown 2006-present
  Brown participated in the relays himself and currently holds the Drake Relays record in the high jump. Each year Brown attempts to have his record broken by recruiting some of the best high jumpers in the country, but none have been able to take down his record.

Meet Records[link]

Men[link]

Event	Record	Athlete	Nationality	Date	Ref
100 m	10.01	Harvey Glance	United States	1976
200 m	20.02 (+1.7 m/s)	Wallace Spearmon	United States	28 April 2012	[1]
400 m	44.41	Michael Johnson	United States	April 1996
800 m	1:45.86	Randy Wilson	United States	1978
1500 m	3:38.27	Steve Scott	United States	1984
Mile	3:51.71	Alan Webb	United States	28 April 2007
5000 m	13:27.20	Nick Rose	United Kingdom	1977
10,000 m	28:07.40	Kipsubal Koskei	Kenya	1980
110 m hurdles	13.20 (+1.0 m/s)	Ryan Wilson	United States	28 April 2012	[2]
400 m hurdles	48.28	Danny Harris	United States	1986
3000 m steeplechase	8:31.02	Henry Marsh	United States	1977
High jump	2.31 m	Brian Brown	United States	26 April 1997
		Dusty Jonas		30 April 2011	[3]
		Erik Kynard		30 April 2011	[4]
Pole vault	5.79 m	Jeff Hartwig	United States	28 April 2007
Long jump	7.96 m	Ralph Boston	United States	1961
Triple jump	16.08 m	Mike Conley	United States	1994
Shot put	22.10 m	Christian Cantwell	United States	29 April 2006
Hammer Throw	72.77 m	Libor Charfreitag	Slovakia	2002
Discus throw	64.31 m	Mac Wilkins	United States	1978
Decathlon	8198 pts	Kip Janvrin	United States	April 1996
	(100 m), (long jump), (shot put), (high jump), (400 m) / (110 m hurdles), (discus), (pole vault), (javelin), (1500 m)
4×100 m relay	38.96	University of Alabama	United States	1983
4×400 m relay	3:00.78	Southern Illinois University	United States	1984

Women[link]

Event	Record	Athlete	Nationality	Date	Ref
100 m	11.06 (0.0 m/s)	LaShauntea Moore	United States	24 April 2010	[5]
200 m	22.40	Gwen Torrence	United States	April 1994
400 m	50.64	Lillie Leatherwood-King	United States	1987
800 m	2:01.68	Suzy Favor-Hamilton	United States	April 1998
1500 m	4:05.13	Suzy Favor-Hamilton	United States	April 2000
Mile	4:40.2	Francie Larrieu-Smith	United States	1975
3000 m	8:56.03	Suzy Favor-Hamilton	United States	April 2002
5000 m	15:31.18	Cathy Branta-Easker	United States	1985
10,000 m	32:57.38	Patti Murray	United States	1988
100 m hurdles	12.65 (-0.9 m/s)	Damu Cherry	United States	24 April 2010	[6]
400 m hurdles	55.37	Nawal El Moutawakel	Morocco	1984
High jump	1.98 m	Chaunte Lowe	United States	28 April 2012	[7]
Pole vault	4.65 m	Jenn Suhr	United States	28 April 2012	[8]
Shot put	18.67 m	Nadine Kleinert	Germany	24 April 2010	[9]
Discus throw	64.38 m	Becky Breisch	United States	24 April 2010
Hammer throw	63.78 m	Florence Ezeh	Togo	April 2002
Heptathlon	6040 pts	Diana Pickler	United States	21–22 April 2009	[10]
	13.63 (0.0 m/s) (100 m hurdles), 1.78 m (high jump), 12.08 m (shot put), 24.48 (+1.7 m/s) (200 m) / 6.14 m (+1.0 m/s) (long jump), 41.39 m (javelin), 2:16.73 (800 m)				[11]
4×100 m relay	43.58	University Of Texas Morgan Snow Allison Peter Christy Udoh Chalonda Goodman	United States	28 April 2012	[12]
4×400 m relay	3:28.63	University of Arkansas Regina George Shelise Williams Gwendolyn Flowers Brittany Hyter	United States	30 April 2011	[13]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Drake Relays website
• Drake Relays Records
• Drake Relays Digital Archives
• Drake Relays Hall of Fame

Derek Miles (born September 28, 1972) is an American pole vaulter, from Tea, South Dakota. A former pole vaulter for The University of South Dakota Track and Field team, Miles is currently an assistant coach for the Coyotes. Miles finished fourth in the 2008 Summer Olympic Games in Beijing, China. In 2004, he placed seventh in the Summer Olympic Games in Athens, Greece. ^[1]

His personal best vault is 5.85 metres, achieved in September 2008 in Berlin, Germany. The vault, completed next to the Brandenburg Gate, was part of a promotional competition for the 2009 World Championships in Athletics.^[2] Miles trains with Earl Bell in Jonesboro, Arkansas at Bell Athletics. He is represented by Karen Locke.

He attended Bella Vista High School in Fair Oaks, California.

Achievements[link]

Year	Competition	Venue	Position	Notes
Representing the  United States
2003	World Indoor Championships	Birmingham, England	5th
	World Championships	Paris, France	6th
	World Athletics Final	Monte Carlo, Monaco	5th
2004	Olympic Games	Athens, Greece	7th
	World Athletics Final	Monte Carlo, Monaco	3rd
2005	World Athletics Final	Monte Carlo, Monaco	5th
2008	U.S. Olympic Trials	Eugene, Oregon	1st
	Olympic Games	Beijing, China	4th
	World Athletics Final	Stuttgart, Germany	1st
2010	Continental Cup	Split, Croatia	3rd
2011	World Championships	Daegu, South Korea	13th	5.65 m

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official website
• IAAF profile for Derek Miles
• USATF profile for Derek Miles
• Derek Miles The South Dakotan

This biographical article about an American pole vaulter is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. v t e

Obadele Thompson

Obadele Thompson at the Sydney 2000 Olympics
Personal information
Nationality	Barbadian
Born	(1976-03-30) March 30, 1976 (age 36)
Sport
Sport	Sprint
Event(s)	100 metres, 200 metres
Medal record Men’s Athletics Competitor for  Barbados Olympic Games Bronze 2000 Sydney 100 m World Indoor Championships Silver 1999 Maebashi 200 m Central American and Caribbean Games Gold 1998 Maracaibo 100 m CAC Championships Gold 2001 Guatemala City 4×100 m relay Gold 1999 Bridgetown 100 m Gold 1999 Bridgetown 4×100 m relay Gold 1995 Guatemala City 100 m Gold 1995 Guatemala City 200 m Gold 1993 Cali 100 m Silver 1995 Guatemala City 4×100 m relay Commonwealth Games Bronze 1998 Kuala Lumpur 100 m CAC Junior Championships (U20) Gold 1994 Port of Spain 100 m Gold 1994 Port of Spain 200 m CARIFTA Games Junior (U20) Gold 1994 Bridgetown 100m Gold 1994 Bridgetown 200m Gold 1993 Fort-de-France 100m Silver 1993 Fort-de-France 200m Silver 1992 Nassau 4x100 m relay Bronze 1993 Fort-de-France 4x100m relay CARIFTA Games Youth (U17) Gold 1992 Nassau 100m Gold 1991 Port of Spain 100m Silver 1992 Nassau 200m Bronze 1991 Port of Spain 200m

Obadele Thompson (born March 30, 1976) is a sprint athlete from Barbados;. In 2000, he became the first Olympic medalist from Barbados with a bronze medal in the 100m race.

Biography[link]

Born in Saint Michael, Thompson attended Harrison College before earning a scholarship, and graduated with honors with a degree in marketing and economics from the University of Texas at El Paso, United States.

On February 21, 2007 Thompson announced his engagement to Marion Jones, then pregnant. The marriage took place in a private ceremony on February 24, 2007 in North Carolina with close friends and family in attendance.^[1] Their first child together, son Amir, was born in July 2007. A daughter, Eva-Marie, was born in June 2009.^[2][3]

Career[link]

Starting his career, he competed very successful at the CARIFTA Games and the Central American and Caribbean Junior Championships. In 1994, he was awarded the Austin Sealy Trophy for the most outstanding athlete of the 1994 CARIFTA Games.^[4][5]

A junior world record holder in 1994, he came close to winning an Olympic medal at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, when he finished 4th in the 200 m final, which was won by Michael Johnson in a new World Record time.

Competing with the top sprinters in the late 1990s, Thompson came close to major wins at the 1999 World Championships. He finished fourth in both the 100 m and 200 m.

He won a medal at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia, finishing third behind Maurice Greene and Trinidad and Tobago's Ato Boldon. Thompson came in fourth place in the 200 m race.

In April 1996 in El Paso, Texas, Thompson ran the then-fastest 100 m race ever. He was clocked at the time of 9.69 s.^[6] However, it was achieved with a 5.0 m/s tail wind, well over the IAAF legal limit of 2.0 m/s, and the mark was not officially recognized. His time was bettered by Tyson Gay 12 years later who ran a 9.68s 100m aided by a 4.1 m/s tail wind at the 2008 US trials. Thompson's 9.69 time was later matched legally by Usain Bolt at the 2008 Olympic Games, who recorded the same time but with a 0.0 m/s tail wind. In 2009 World Championships in Athletics Bolt bettered his world record to 9.58s, with a tailwind of +0.9 m/s.

His fastest legal time in the 100 m is 9.87, and he ran his personal best in the 200 m at 19.97 in 2000.

After the 2000 Olympics, Thompson was made "Ambassador and Special Envoy to the Youth" by former Barbados Prime Minister Owen Arthur.

Personal bests[link]

Achievements[link]

Year	Competition	Venue	Position	Event	Notes
Representing  Barbados
1991	CARIFTA Games (U-17)	Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago	1st	100 m	10.5   (2.6 m/s) w
			3rd	200 m	22.26
1992	CARIFTA Games (U-17)	Nassau, Bahamas	1st	100 m	10.59 w
			2nd	200 m	21.61
	CARIFTA Games (U-20)		2nd	4x100 m relay	41.84
1993	CARIFTA Games (U-20)	Fort-de-France, Martinique	1st	100 m	10.71   (-0.9 m/s)
			2nd	200 m	21.42   (-0.3 m/s)
			3rd	4x100 m relay	42.47
	Central American and Caribbean Championships	Cali, Colombia	1st	100 m	10.30 w
	Pan American Junior Championships	Winnipeg, Canada	3rd	100m	10.76
			2nd	200m	21.18 w
1994	CARIFTA Games (U-20)	Bridgetown, Barbados	1st	100 m	10.33
			1st	200 m	20.71
	Central American and Caribbean Junior Championships	Port of Spain, Trinidad	1st	100m	10.0   (-0.3 m/s)
			1st	200m	21.1   (-0.2 m/s)
	World Junior Championships	Lisbon, Portugal	4th	100m	10.29   (1.2 m/s)
			5th (sf)	200 m	21.28   (1.9 m/s)
1995	Central American and Caribbean Championships	Guatemala City, Guatemala	1st	100 m	10.18 A
			1st	200 m	20.49 A CR
	Universiade	Fukuoka, Japan	2nd	100 m	10.34   (1.3 m/s)
	World Championships	Gothenburg, Sweden	5th (qf)	100 m	10.30   (-0.5 m/s)
			7th (sf)	200 m	20.66   (-0.9 m/s)
1996	NCAA Indoor Championships	Indianapolis, Indiana	1st	200m
	Olympic Games	Atlanta, Georgia	6th (sf)	100	10.16   (-0.5 m/s)
			4th	200m	20.14   (0.4 m/s)
1997	NCAA Indoor Championships	Indianapolis, Indiana	1st	200m
	NCAA Outdoor Championships	Bloomington, Indiana	1st	100 m
			1st	200 m
	World Championships	Athens, Greece	6th (sf)	100 m	10.30   (-0.8 m/s)
			6th	200m	20.37   (2.3 m/s) w
	IAAF Grand Prix Final	Fukuoka, Japan	2nd	200 m	20.19   (0.3 m/s)
1998	Commonwealth Games	Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia	3rd	100m	10.00
	IAAF World Cup	Johannesburg, South Africa	1st	100 m	9.87   (-0.2 m/s) NR
	IAAF Grand Prix Final	Moscow, Russia	2nd	100 m	10.11   (0.1 m/s)
	Central American and Caribbean Games	Maracaibo, Venezuela	1st	100 m	10.20
1999	IAAF World Indoor Championships	Maebashi, Japan	2nd	200 m	20.26
	Central American and Caribbean Championships	Bridgetown, Barbados	1st	100 m	10.23
	World Championships	Seville, Spain	4th	100 m	10.00   (0.2 m/s)
			4th	200 m	20.23   (1.2 m/s)
	IAAF Grand Prix Final	Munich, Germany	4th	200 m	20.21   (-0.8 m/s)
2000	Summer Olympics	Sydney, Australia	3rd	100 m	10.04   (-0.3 m/s)
			4th	200 m	20.20   (-0.6 m/s)
2001	World Championships	Edmonton, Canada	5th (sf)	100 m	10.31   (-1.7 m/s)
2002	Commonwealth Games	Manchester, England	DNS (qf)	100 m
2003	World Championships	Paris, France	4th (qf)	100 m	10.14   (0.6 m/s)
2004	Summer Olympics	Athens, Greece	7th	100 m	10.10   (0.6 m/s)
2005	Central American and Caribbean Championships	Nassau, Bahamas	4th	200m	20.53   (1.8 m/s)
	World Championships	Helsinki, Finland	6th (qf)	100 m	10.34   (-1.0 m/s)
			DNS (h)	200 m

References[link]

External links[link]

• IAAF profile for Obadele Thompson
• Obadele Thompson photos & statistics at sporting-heroes.net

Records
Preceded by Stanley Floyd	Men's World Junior Record Holder, 100 metres 16 April 1994 – 25 July 1997	Succeeded by Dwain Chambers

Bryan Clay

Personal information
Full name	Bryan Ezra Tsumoru Clay
Born	(1980-01-03) January 3, 1980 (age 32) Austin, Texas, United States
Height	5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)
Weight	180 pounds (82 kg)
Medal record Men's athletics Competitor for the  United States Olympic Games Gold 2008 Beijing Decathlon Silver 2004 Athens Decathlon World Championships Gold 2005 Helsinki Decathlon World Indoor Championships Gold 2008 Valencia Heptathlon Gold 2010 Doha Heptathlon Silver 2006 Moscow Heptathlon Silver 2004 Budapest Heptathlon

Bryan Ezra Tsumoru Clay (born January 3, 1980) is an American decathlete. He is the reigning Olympic champion for the decathlon and was also World champion in 2005.

Biography[link]

Clay was born in Austin, Texas^[1] and raised in Hawaii. He is Afro-Asian. His mother, Michele Ishimoto, was a Japanese immigrant to America. His father, Greg Clay, was African American.^[2] His parents divorced when he was in elementary school and he was raised primarily by his mother.

Clay has a younger brother, Nikolas, who was also a standout athlete on the Azusa Pacific University track team.

He graduated from James B. Castle High School (Kaneohe, Hawaii) in 1998.

Clay is married to Sarah Smith. They have a son, Jacob (b. 2005), and two daughters, Katherine (Kate) (b. 2007) and Elizabeth (Ellie) (b. 2010) .^[3] Clay believes that a balance of mental, physical, and emotional health will help him in athletic competition.^[3] Clay is a devout Christian.^[4]

Clay addressed the 2008 Republican National Convention.

Athletic career[link]

He competed in track and field in high school, during which time he was coached by Dacre Bowen and Martin Hee. He then attended Azusa Pacific University, an Evangelical Christian college near Los Angeles, California, where he competed in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics and was coached by Mike Barnett, who still coaches him. Clay still trains at Azusa Pacific University. Clay decided to compete in the decathlon after persuasion from Olympian Chris Huffins.^[1]

Clay won the silver medal at the 2004 Olympics, and finished first at the 2005 World Championships. He was unable to compete in the 2007 World Championships due to injuries.^[5]

Clay won the gold medal at the 2008 Olympics in the decathlon.^[6][7] His victory margin of 240 points in the 2008 Beijing Olympics was the largest since 1972.^[8] The Olympic decathlon champion is referred to as the "World's Greatest Athlete" and prior to the Olympics, Clay was tested by SPARQ to establish his SPARQ Rating across a number of different sports. The test is meant to measure sport-specific athleticism and in the football test Clay recorded a score of 130.40, the highest ever recorded up to that point. By comparison, Reggie Bush scored a 93.38 on the popular test.^[9]

He is one of two Olympians featured on a special edition post-Beijing Olympics Wheaties cereal box; the other was gymnast Nastia Liukin.^[10]

His attempts to regain his World Championships decathlon title were thwarted by a hamstring injury in June 2009. This caused him to drop out of the US trials; thus, he missed the chance to compete at the 2009 World Championships in Berlin.^[11] He returned to action in 2010 and won the men's heptathlon at the 2010 IAAF World Indoor Championships. At the start of his outdoor season he won the 2010 Hypo-Meeting, holding off the challenge from Romain Barras.^[12]

Achievements[link]

• 2010 IAAF World Indoor Championships - gold medal
• Athletics at the 2008 Summer Olympics - Men's decathlon - gold medal
• 2008 IAAF World Indoor Championships - gold medal
• 2005 World Championships in Athletics - gold medal
• Athletics at the 2004 Summer Olympics - Men's decathlon - silver medal
• 2004 World Indoor Championships - silver medal

Personal best[link]

This biographical section of an article needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. (August 2008)

Bryan Clay during the 2007 World Athletics Championships in Osaka, Japan.

• Decathlon - 8832

Decathlon events:

• 100 m - 10.35
• 400 m - 47.78
• 110 m hurdles - 13.64
• 1500 m - 4:38.93
• Long jump - 8.06
• High jump - 2.10
• Pole vault - 5.15
• Shot put - 16.27
• Discus throw - 55.87 (world decathlon best)
• Javelin throw - 72.00

Others:

• 60 m - 6.65
• 60 m hurdles - 7.77
• 200 m - 21.34
• 1000 m - 2:49.41
• Heptathlon - 6371

See also[link]

• List of Olympic decathlon medalists

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official website
• Clay at TrackField.org
• iPhone App
• Teleconference interview with decathlete world-champion Bryan Clay prior to the 2007 USATF Outdoor Track & Field Championships
• Video: APU Life on Film featuring Clay