Nigerian athlete Peter Moreno opened his season in the Decathlon on a bright note as he braved all odds to finish 2nd at the England Senior and U-20 Combined Events Championship, which took place between May 27th and 28th in Bedford.
Moreno, who holds the National Record (NR) in the men’s Pole vault, was in impressive form over the weekend, setting Personal Bests (PB) in five events to smash Lee Okoroafor’s NR of 7240 points in the Decathlon, set during the 2003 All-Africa Games in Abuja, which earned him a Silver medal behind Mustafa Taha Hussein of Egypt.
Moreno posted 11.02s in the 100m, 6.99m in the Long Jump, 11.96m in the Shot put, 1.96m in the High Jump and a PB of 48.31s in the 400m to amass a total of 3,932 points to top the standings on Day 1 of the competition.
He went on to set PBs in the 110 Hurdles (14.42s), Discus (34.45m), Javelin (45.92m) and 1500m (04:56.87) on Day 2, as well as a mark of 4.43m in the Pole vault to snatch a Silver medal with a new NR of 7,252 points (subject to ratification).
The competition was won by James Finney with 7,263 points, while Andrew Murphy scooped Bronze with a total of 7,170 points.
Okoroafor’s marks in the Decathlon are 10.94s (100m), 7.29m (Long Jump), 11.83m (Shot put), 2.03m (High Jump), 51.07s (400 m), 14.68s (110m Hurdles), 37.45m (Discus), 3.60m (Pole vault), 54.87m (Javelin), and 4:50.19 (1500m).
Congratulations Peter. It’s about time the record goes.