Trey Hardee
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James Edward "Trey" Hardee III (born February 7, 1984, in
Birmingham, Alabama Birmingham ( ) is a city in the north central region of the U.S. state of Alabama. Birmingham is the seat of Jefferson County, Alabama's most populous county. As of the 2021 census estimates, Birmingham had a population of 197,575, down 1% fr ...
) is a retired American
track and field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping eve ...
athlete who specialized in the combined events. He is a former
NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...
Champion, a two-time World Outdoor Champion, a member of the United States 2008 Olympic team, and the silver medalist in the decathlon at the
London 2012 Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...
. He was Inducted into the Texas Track and Field Hall of Fame in 2018.


High school and college career

Hardee did not start out as a decathlete. He preferred basketball, and only joined the track and field team as a junior after failing to make the basketball varsity squad at Vestavia Hills High School. He was recruited to Mississippi State University as a pole vaulter. Hardee started college at
Mississippi State Mississippi State University for Agriculture and Applied Science, commonly known as Mississippi State University (MSU), is a public land-grant research university adjacent to Starkville, Mississippi. It is classified among "R1: Doctoral Univer ...
in 2002. It was at the university that coaches, noting his combination of size and speed, pushed him toward the decathlon and the indoor heptathlon. He finished second in the decathlon at the 2004 NCAA Outdoor Championships. Mississippi State dropped its indoor track and field program after the 2004 season, so Hardee transferred to the
University of Texas The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas. It was founded in 1883 and is the oldest institution in the University of Texas System. With 40,916 undergraduate students, 11,075 ...
. In his first season at
Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...
, he was third in the heptathlon at the 2005 NCAA Indoor Championships and won the decathlon at the 2005 NCAA Outdoor Championships. In 2006, he set the NCAA decathlon record with a then personal best 8,465 points and was named the 2006 NCAA Division I Men's Indoor Field Athlete of the Year.


Professional career

Hardee was the runner-up in the decathlon at the 2008 US Olympic Trials and made his first Olympic team. At the Olympics, he was in 4th place through seven events when his no-height score in the pole vault cost him a chance to medal. His performances during the 2008 outdoor season garnered interest from the New York Jets of the
National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...
, who offered him a tryout. However, he expressed no interest in pursuing the opportunity. At the 2009 World Athletics Championships in
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, Hardee won gold in the decathlon with a points total of 8790, which is his personal record. He was awarded the Jim Thorpe All-Around Award by the
United States Sports Academy The United States Sports Academy is a private university focused on sports and located in Daphne, Alabama. It offers bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degree programs as well as certificate programs. Founded in 1972, the academy has provided its ...
for his achievements that year. In the same year, he won the USA Outdoor championship with a score of 8,261. At the
2010 IAAF World Indoor Championships The 2010 IAAF World Indoor Championships in Athletics was held between 12 and 14 March at the Aspire Dome in Doha, Qatar. The championships was the first of six IAAF World Athletics Series events to take place in 2010. Bidding and organisation ...
, he won a silver medal in the heptathlon by finishing behind Bryan Clay. Hardee finished with a points total of 6184, which was 20 points behind Clay. At the
2011 World Championships in Athletics The 13th IAAF World Championships in Athletics () was an international athletics competition that was held in Daegu, South Korea. It started on 27 August 2011 and finished on 4 September 2011. The United States topped the medal standings in th ...
, Hardee defeated his compatriot
Ashton Eaton Ashton James Eaton (born January 21, 1988) is a retired American decathlete and two-time Olympic champion, who holds the world record in the indoor heptathlon event. Eaton was the second decathlete (after Roman Šebrle) to break the 9,000-point ...
and retained the world decathlon title with a final points tally of 8607. In 2012, Hardee again finished second in the Olympic Trials and made a second Olympic Team. On August 9, 2012, he won the silver medal at the
London 2012 Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...
behind Eaton. Hardee attempted to make a third Olympic team in
2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the Impeachment of Dilma Rousseff, impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses duri ...
, but was unsuccessful due to injury. He did attend the Olympics as a television analyst for NBC Sports.


Personal bests (outdoor)

Last updated April 6, 2016.


PB Decathlon and potential PB


References


External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hardee, Trey 1984 births Living people American male decathletes Athletes (track and field) at the 2008 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2012 Summer Olympics Olympic silver medalists for the United States in track and field Medalists at the 2012 Summer Olympics World Athletics Championships medalists World Athletics Championships athletes for the United States Track and field athletes from Birmingham, Alabama USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships winners World Athletics Championships winners Texas Longhorns men's track and field athletes