SANTIAGO – A gold on the track and a bronze in the combined events raised Team USATF's overall medal total to five on day two of track and field at the 19th Pan American Games at National Stadium.
Setting off at what can politely be described as a casual jog, the field in the men's 5000 went by one kilometer in 3:37, just over 18:00 pace. As they reached the mile mark, Emmanuel Bor and Kasey Knevelbaard started to press the pace significantly, throwing down a pair of 65-second circuits. Hitting 3K in 9:26, Bor and Knevelbaard continued to lead a pack that was in single file, with Canada's Charles Philibert-Thiboutot a step behind the leaders. The Canadian started to move onto Bor's shoulder with 1K to go, but there was still very little between the top three.
Mexico's Fernando Martinez and Uruguay's Santiago Catrofe passed Bor heading into the final lap and a mad dash for the line came down to a lean between Martinez and Knevelbaard. Knevelbaard was closing very quickly on the inside and almost caught Martinez, but was .01 behind in 14:47.69. The Mexican runner was subsequently disqualified, giving Knevelbaard the gold, the first by an American in the event since 2007. Bor dropped to sixth in 14:55.53.
"You never know what to expect in a championship like this," Knevelbaard said. "I wanted to go out and test what I could do and was happy that I was able to compete so well. The medal means so much to me. People take things for granted, but I never want to take for granted the chance to represent my country. I have been racing a ton, but I don't want to miss any opportunities so I came into this off my normal training. At the end I was just trying to get to the finish line first like everyone else."
Coming into the second day of the men's decathlon, Ryan Talbot was seventh. A lifetime best of 50.66/166-2 in the discus moved him up into medal contention, and he solidified his place with a 4.90/16-0.75 in the pole vault before closing with a 4:57.14 1500 to finish with 7,742 points and earn bronze. Chile's Santiago Ford took the gold with 7,834 and Jose Ferreira of Brazil earned silver with 7,748. First day leader Sam Black placed fifth with 7,585.
Talbot said, "This was a good chance to experience a big stage like this. In a decathlon you're always learning so much because there's so many events, and this was a very hard decathlon. I enjoyed it the whole time and the hardest part was the waiting before the competition. All the nerves go away when the competition starts. I love Chile, it's an amazing country and the fans are so supportive. They hyped me up."
Damarcus Simpson was eighth in the men's long jump with a best of 7.55/24-9.25, one place ahead of Jermel Jones, who jumped 7.32/24-0.25.
In the women's 100 hurdles semifinal, Alaysha Johnson ran away with the first section in 12.99 and ended up with the second-fastest time of the day on the way to earning a berth in the final.
TEAM USATF MEDALS (5)
Gold (1)
Kasey Knevelbaard, men's 5000 (14:47.69)
Silver (0)
Bronze (4)
Ednah Kurgat, women's 10,000 (33:16.61)
Tiffany Flynn, women's long jump (6.40/21-0)
Mixed 4x400 relay (Demarius Smith, Honour Finley, Richard Johnson, Jada Griffin) 3:19.41
Ryan Talbot, men's decathlon (7,742 points)
Fans can watch at panamsportschannel.org and follow results here.