Lansing Sun

East Lansing, Mich. - Former Michigan State track & field athlete Heath Baldwin finished 10th in the decathlon on Saturday at the Paris Olympics, concluding with 8,422 points.

Norway's Markus Rooth earned the gold medal with 8,796 points, while Germany's Leo Neugebauer took silver with 8,748 points. Grenada's Victor London finished third with 8,711 points for the bronze.

The 10th-place finish by Baldwin is the best ever by a Spartan in the decathlon, surpassing MSU great Paul Terek, who finished 21st in the 2004 Athens Olympics.

Baldwin's first day of the decathlon was highlighted by winning the high jump with his personal-best height of 2.17m to earn 963 points.

The Spartan began his first Olympics with the 100m, finishing 19th (10.91) for 881 points. In the long jump, Baldwin placed 11th (7.38m) for 905 points and then finished 12th in shot put with a mark of 14.48m for 758 points. After his winning height in the high jump during event four, Baldwin wrapped up day one by finishing 17th in the 400m (49.04) for 859 points.

Day two started with Baldwin finishing sixth in the 110 hurdles with a time of 14.04 for 969 points. In discus, he earned 739 points with a top throw of 43.66m and finished pole vaulting at a height of 4.70m to add another 819 points.

The Kalamazoo native moved up to eighth place overall after a strong showing in javelin, finishing fifth with a throw of 67.59m. To conclude the event, Baldwin ran the final race—the grueling1500m—in a time of4:40.67 to finish13th and securethe top finishfor any Spartan decathlete at anOlympics.

Baldwin was one of two former Spartans competing in Paris; Tori Franklin also participated in triple jump and finished14thwith adistanceof14.02m.

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