UWindsor alumnus strikes gold at Commonwealth Games

UWindsor alumnus Jamie Adjetey-Nelson (BA 2007, BEd 2009) made history by winning the men's decathlon title at the 2010 Commonwealth Games in New Delhi, India, on October 8.

 

A 4.70m personal best in pole vault plus wins in the shot put and 100m dash events secured the victory for Adjetey-Nelson, who finished third or higher in eight of the 10 competitions. A star with the Lancer track team, he won the Olympic Shield as Windsor's male athlete of the year in 2009.

 

The 26 year-old held a commanding lead after day one of competition and finished with an impressive score of 8,070 points.

 
He opened the competition by winning the 100 metres in a time of 10.87 seconds, the only runner to break 11 seconds. He then went on to finish second in the long jump with a leap of 7.37 metres on his first attempt.

Adjetey-Nelson won the shot put competition with a throw of 15.00 metres before finishing fifth in the high jump with a mark of 2.02 metres. He would close out the first day with a third-place finish in the 400 metres in a time of 49.61 seconds.

On day two, Adjetey-Nelson added to his impressive points total with solid performances in the 110-metre hurdles, discus throw, pole vault, javelin throw and the closing 1,500m race.

Adjetey-Nelson began the second day by placing second in the hurdles with a time of 14.76, followed by a third place finish in the discus with a toss of 45.21m. 

His personal best height of 4.70m in the pole vault bettered his previous record by 0.20 metres for a third-place finish. After a 61.32 metre throw in the javelin, Adjetey-Nelson closed out his magical two days by running the 1,500 metres in a time of 4:52.23. 

 

He will next compete in May 2011 at the unofficial World Decathlon Championship in Gotzis, Austria, and work towards earning a berth into the 2011 World Track and Field Championships in Daegu, Korea in August.

 

 

Gold — Jamie Adjetey-Nelson (Canada), 8,070 points

Silver — Brent Newdick (New Zealand), 7,899 points

Bronze — Martin Brockman (England), 7,712 points