Macey falters in Olympic gold bid

Dean Macey's chances of landing Olympic decathlon gold began to sink in a Sydney downpour today - amid controversy surrounding the man he had identified as his main rival.

After a solid sprint hurdles run was followed by a below-par discus throw in the rain-swept Olympic Stadium this morning, Macey had slipped from his overnight second place into the bronze medal position.

With first day leader Chris Huffins enjoying an inspired morning, the American had a commanding 215 points advantage over the British hope with just three of the 10 events remaining today. The Czech, Roman Sebrle, edged into second place, 19 points clear of Macey.

Yet the Canvey Islander's chances of a medal would have been much brighter if not for a controversial lifeline being thrown to Estonia's fourth-placed Erki Nool.

Nool had effectively crashed out when he failed to register a throw in the discus. Initially, his final throw had been measured and accepted as legal but when he was detected by a TV replay to have stepped outside the circle, it was ruled a no-throw.

But it was later reinstated and Nool is just 29 points behind Macey with his best event, the pole vault, to come. Meanwhile, the British, American and Czech teams were left protesting against the decision, which could yet cost Macey a medal.