Tonnesen Finishes Day 2 with Better Results

RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil – Helped by a good showing in his specialty, the pole vault, Mesa's Pau Tonnesen placed 17th with 7982 points in the Olympic decathlon Thursday.  

He competes for Spain due to his mother's heritage. He had been in 22 nd place after the first day of competition and improved on his 18 th place showing at last year's World Championships in China.  

A total of 32 athletes began the competition.  Tonnesen's day began with the 110-meter hurdles where he placed fifth of seven in his heat and scored 851 points.  

Then, it was on to the discus where he had the seventh best toss of the competition, 46.31 meters, or roughly 151'11 ¼". That was good for 794 points.  

The third event of the day was Tonnesen's specialty, the pole vault. He scored 972 points by clearing 5.20 meters, approximately 17' ¾".  

That mark tied for the second best of the competition. He skipped 5.30 meters and missed all three of his attempts, the third just barely, at 5.40, equivalent to 17' 8 ½".  

In the ninth event, the javelin, he threw a distance of 56.96, or approximately 186' 10 ½" which was worth 692 points.  

In the final event, the 1500 meters, Tonnesen posted a time of 4:46.27 to collect 641 points.  

Tonnesen made NJCAA history by becoming the first person ever to win both the decathlon and pentathlon in both of his two years at Mesa.  

He also won the indoor and outdoor pole vault national championships in his sophomore year.  

He then transferred to the University of Arizona where he placed second and fourth in the NCAA decathlon national championships.