Dave with his 2014 golds from N.C.
Last year at Wake Forest nationals,
David Burton of Morro Bay, California, won four events at age 44 — the 110 hurdles in 15.86, pole vault at 4.27 (14-0), javelin at 45.25 (148-5) and long jump at 5.92 (19-5). You thinking what I’m thinking? Yup, he’s a decathlon beast. He turned 45 last October and at Mt SAC in late May he tore an MCL during a dec (with 39-inch hurdles). But he still scored 7650 points age-graded
(see results here) — 37 points shy of the listed world record by Russia’s
Viktor Grouzenkin in 1997. But the listed American record is
Rex Harvey’s legendary 7421 of 1991 — the oldest mark on the books. Dave says he wasn’t able to get Mt. SAC to submit paperwork for an AR. And he was too injured for Lyon worlds. But in late September he did another dec — at
Seth Brower’s Texas vs. The World meet in San Marcos, Texas.
He scored 7624 and will apply for AR status. (It was USATF-sanctioned.) “I ended up getting the U.S. record finally,” he writes. “Disappointed I didn’t get the WR, but I can’t really complain. The meet was ‘solid’ — 10 ‘OK’ marks. No great marks, but all OK. And that’s what decathlon is really about — putting 10 marks together at 90 percent — at least that’s what I tell my athletes.”
Fourth from left, Dave holds off the kiddies at Texas decathlon 100-meter dash.
4 Responses
Congrats Dave, looking forward to seeing more records as you heal up.
G
That is a fantastic decathlon, especially after an mcl tear. Congrats on breaking the record.
I will second that, Lindy. What a performance by Dave Burton at Mt. SAC; how did he even complete the decathlon there after the MCL injury? Amazing. And then to do almost as well four months later in San Marcos. You’re the man, Dave!
Too bad that Mt. SAC wouldn’t help with a record application. That situation reminds me very much of what happened with Aaron Thigpen in 2007. Aaron had set the American M40 mark in the 100 at 10.73 in our Charlotte nationals (2006), but he came back the following year to run 10.60 in a wind-legal race at Mt. SAC.
Unfortunately, Aaron could not get any help from Mt. SAC with his record application, and that mark was lost to history. Too bad. I would love to see Dave Burton’s decathlon record at Mt. SAC be ratified.
Congratulations Superstar!! Keep that world record in your sites. You will get it in your next Decathlon.
By the way, Happy Birthday!!
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