Michigan State’s Heath Baldwin is headed to Paris. Baldwin finished in first place in the decathlon at the U.S. Olympic Team Trials on Saturday night, sealing his spot in next month’s Olympic Games.
Baldwin recorded a personal best score of 8625 over the last two days in Eugene.
The decathlon is a grueling two-day event that tests athletes’ physical and mental strength as well as their endurance. Athletes compete in 10 different events over the course of two days – 100m, long jump, shot put, high jump, 400m, 100m hurdles, discus throw, pole vault, javelin throw, and 1500m. Point totals are assigned based on performance in each event and are added up to determine a winner.
100 meters: The decathlon started on Friday morning on the west coast and the first event was the 100 meter dash. Baldwin finished in 12th place in that event with a time of 10.85 seconds, just six hundredths off of his personal best.
Long jump: Baldwin climbed the leaderboard into the top five after his performance in the long jump. He jumped the third longest distance of anyone in the decathlon – 7.46 meters.
Shot put: His first personal best of the meet came in the shot put. His best throw went 16.52 meters as Baldwin finished first in the event by about 0.7 meters. After the shot put, Baldwin catapulted himself into a qualifying spot (second place).
High jump: Baldwin parlayed that into a season best performance in the high jump. He finished first in the event with a jump of 2.13 meters.
400 meters: Day one of the decathlon ended with one lap around the track. Baldwin recorded his second personal best of the day with a time of 48.58 as he finished in eighth place. That run propelled Baldwin into the lead in the overall standings halfway through the 10 events.
110 meter hurdles: Day two began on the track with the hurdles. Baldwin was not too far off his personal best. He finished in first place with a time of 13.77 seconds. Baldwin maintained his lead in the overall standings.
Discus throw: The decathletes made their way back out to the field for the discus throw, which is not one of Baldwin’s strongest events. However, he still recorded a personal best throw of 43.67 meters to finish in 10th place. It was his third personal best of the meet.
Pole vault: Baldwin finished in fifth place in the pole vault. He vaulted 4.85 meters, which is 0.01 meters below his personal best. While Baldwin lost his first place position in the overall standings, his chances of making the team did increase with the withdrawal of Kyle Garland, who was in second place at the time he pulled out of the competition.
Javelin throw: The Kalamazoo native retook the lead in the decathlon overall standings after a dominant performance in the javelin throw. He finished in first place with a throw of 66.69 meters, over five meters better than the second place thrower.
1500 meters: Baldwin finished the grueling event with a sixth place finish in the 1500 meters (4:41.87) to secure his spot in Paris.
Baldwin was able to qualify for the Olympics while wearing a Michigan State jersey in Eugene.
“Obviously, Michigan State has invested a lot of time and money in me,” Baldwin told Spartans Illustrated prior to the U.S. Olympic Team Trials. “Being able to wear the Michigan State jersey at trials is going to be awesome. If I would be able to qualify with a Michigan State jersey on, I think it would be sweet.”
Baldwin started competing in track and field in his sophomore year of high school. Many years later, he is headed to the pinnacle event in the sport.
“I feel like I’ve put in a lot of time into all of this the past five years, and even going into high school and everything," said Baldwin. "It just means a lot to show off all the work and all the stuff that people have invested into me. If I could make that all pay off at (Olympic) trials, I think that would be huge.”
Fellow Spartan Ryan Talbot also competed in the decathlon. Talbot finished in 8th place with a season best score of 7872.
For continuing coverage of current and former Michigan State student-athletes fighting for spots in the Paris Olympics, visit the Spartans Illustrated Message Board.
For more on Baldwin's journey to the Olympic trials, click here.
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