https://triblive.com/sports/north-allegheny-grad-ayden-owens-delerme-in-2nd-place-after-day-1-of-olympic-decathlon/
North Allegheny grad Ayden Owens-Delerme in 2nd place after Day 1 of Olympic decathlon
North Allegheny graduate Ayden Owens-Delerme is in contention for an Olympic medal after the first five events of the men’s decathlon contested Friday at Stade de France Track in Paris.
Representing Puerto Rico, the 24-year-old Owens-Delerme earned a combined 4,608 points for the five events, putting him second overall.
Germany’s Leo Neugbauer leads the way with 4,650 points.
Owens-Delerme hopes to move into the lead early Saturday morning with the 110 hurdles at 4:05 a.m. Eastern, the discus at 4:45 a.m., the pole vault at 7:40 a.m., the javelin at 1:10 p.m. and the 1,500 meters at 3:45 p.m.
Owens-Delerme kicked off the competition early Friday with a second-place finish in the 100 meters (10.35 seconds) to earn 1,011 points.
He then led his group in the long jump with a top leap of 7.66 meters and placed sixth overall. That added 975 points to his total.
Owens-Delerme took seventh in the shot put (15.17 meters) for 800 points.
In the high jump, he cleared 2.02 meters, tied for fifth overall, and picked up 822 points.
Owens-Delerme closed Day 1 with the 400 meters, his self-professed best event.
He lived up to his assessment by winning Heat 3 with a time of 46.17. It stood up against all of the other 22 runners as he was awarded 1,000 points.
Owens-Delerme qualified for the Olympics with a personal-best score of 8,732 at the Mt. SAC Relays in April. It was the top score in the world in 2024.
During his time at North Allegheny, he was named the 2018 Gatorade state track and field athlete of the year after winning state titles in the 110 hurdles, 300 hurdles and 200 meters and taking silver in the long jump. He also was a four-time New Balance National All-American.
He then attended Southern Cal (2019 Pac-12 Freshman of the Year) and Michigan (2021 Big Ten Field Athlete of the Year) before wrapping up his college career at Arkansas. There he won the 2022 NCAA championship in the decathlon and was named the SEC Field Athlete of the Year. He is a nine-time NCAA All-American and three-time NCAA champion.
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