Episcopal graduate Garrett Scantling is going to the Olympics.
Scantling won the decathlon on Sunday night at the U.S. Olympic Team Trials in Eugene, Ore., earning 8,647 points over the 10 individual sections in the event. Scantling finished in front of Steven Bastien (8,485 points) and Zach Ziemek (8,471).
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The University of Georgia product was consistent throughout the event’s 10 sections and locked in his spot on the US Olympic team with a consistent performance throughout the two-day competition.
Scantling won both the 110-meter hurdles (13.88) and the javelin (64.21 meters), and finished second in the discus (48.17 meters) and the 100 (10.53). That consistency was tough to top. Scantling finished seventh or higher in nine of the event’s 10 sections.
Scantling’s finish in the final section, the 1,500-meter run, was his worst of the 10. But his lead was so wide entering that race that he had some margin for error. Scantling finished 12th in that race but still had enough of a buffer to seal the deal.
Scantling’s story is one of perseverance.
He missed out on qualifying for the Olympics in 2016, finishing fourth in the decathlon trials and then moved on briefly from the sport. After having not played football since high school at Episcopal, Scantling gave the sport another shot, landing tryout spots with both the Falcons and the Jaguars in 2017. But the drive to be an Olympian pulled him back in. Scantling worked in the private sector for a couple years and started to segue back into training for the decathlon.