Claston Bernard - File Desenzano Del Garda, Italy, cmc
JAMAICA'S Commonwealth Games decathlon champion Claston Bernard took the honours Sunday at the Desenzano Multistars meeting, the first leg of the IAAF combined events challenge.
Continuing with his consistent performances from Saturday's opening day, Bernard won the discus throw on Sunday with 47.19 metres.
He finished with a total of 8,050 points after wins in three of the 10 events, while Frenchman Romain Barros (7,903 points) was second and the Czech Republic's Jiri Ryba (7,784 points) was third.
Creditable performance
Also on Sunday, Bernard was second in the 110-metre hurdles in 14.40 seconds, third in the javelin (57.74m), and he also had a creditable performance in the pole vault.
However, he had a tough time in the 1,500 metres where he was down the pack in four minutes 56.88 seconds but this was enough to help him earn the victory.
"I ran the worst 1,500 metres of my career. I was very tired after suffering from cramps in the final stages of the 400 metres," he told reporters.
"I recovered from the first day's effort thanks to some good stretching exercises. I achieved the qualifying standard for the Olympic Games where I will try to finish in the top five," said the Louisiana-based Bernard, who finished ninth at the World Championships in Paris last summer.
Marie Collonville of France (6,228 points) won the women's heptathlon a clear 103 points from Portugal's Naide Gomes (6,125 points).
