June 30, 2004
COLUMBIA, Mo. - A busy Missouri Track and Field post-season will continue this upcoming weekend as current Tigers Hans Uldal and Bjorn Sommerfeldt along with post-collegian Knut Sommerfeldt will compete in the European Cup Combined Event Championship in Riga, Latvia. The decathletes will be competing for their home country Norway while trying to earn a spot on their Olympic Team. Events start early Saturday morning and will continue through Sunday afternoon.
Sophomore Hans Uldal gained Missouri's first All-America honor in the decathlon three weeks ago at the NCAA Championships. Uldal scored a personal best of 7,661 points on the way to a fifth place national finish, hitting five event career bests during the two-day contest. Uldal redshirted this indoor season, but came back to finish second at the Big 12 Outdoor Championships, scoring 7,329 points.
Freshman Bjorn Sommerfeldt broke into his first season as a Tiger by earning All-Big 12 honors at the indoor conference championships, finishing fifth in the heptathlon. Bjorn scored 6,993 points for his season high in the decathlon at the College Station Mulits in March. Last year, Bjorn scored his personal best of 7,006 points at the European Cup, placing eighth.
Bjorn's brother Knut Sommerfeldt was a three-time Big 12 Champion while at Missouri, ending his collegiate eligibly last year. His score of 7,685 in the 2003 Big 12 Championships stands as Missouri's school record and is his career best. Knut's season-best score came at the inaugural Audrey Walton Combined Event where Sommerfeldt scored 7,504 points.
In Norway, athletes must be chosen by their Olympic committee instead of qualifying though a trial like in the United States. To be eligible to be selected, athletes must obtain either the Olympic "A" or "B" standards which are usually more stringent that the standards needed to enter the U.S. Olympic Trials. The Olympic "A" standard for the decathlon in 8,000 points, which would gain automatic entry into the Olympics; the "B" standard is 7,700 points.
For more coverage of Missouri Track and Field's post-season run, visit mutigers.com.