Sebrle hits 9,000-point mark

Olympic silver medallist Roman Sebrle of the Czech Republic made history on Sunday when he became the first man to break the 9,000 points barrier in the decathlon.

Sebrle, 26, compiled 9,026 points to better the previous record of 8,994 set by his compatriot Tomas Dvorak on July 4, 1999.

Dvorak missed the 9,000 points mark by less than a second in the 1,500 metres in Prague two years ago, the final event of the two-day 10-discipline competition.

"I began to think I'd make the 9,000 after the seventh discipline (the discus)," said Sebrle.

"After my 70-metre throw (in the javelin), I realised it was possible as long as I ran fast in the 1,500 metres.

"The last 300 metres didn't come from sheer strength alone, but from willpower."

Sebrle started on Saturday by clocking 10.64 seconds in the 100 metres. He followed that with 8.11 metres in the long jump, 15.33 in the shot put, 2.12 in the high jump and 47.79 seconds for the 400 metres.

On the second day he clocked 13.92 in the high hurdles, threw the discus 47.92 metres, pole vaulted 4.80 metres, threw the javelin 70.16 metres and clocked four minutes 21.98 seconds for the 1,500.