Former Wildcat Skujyte Wins Silver in Olympic Heptathlon
Aug 21, 2004 | Track & Field
ATHENS, GREECE - Austra Skujyte (pronounced skee-YOU-tay) captured her first Olympic medal and highest career international finish on Saturday at the Olympic Stadium. Skujyte garnered a silver medal in the heptathlon, recording 6435 points, edging out Great Britain’s Kelly Sotherton by 11 points to earn the silver.
Skujyte, competing for her native country of Lithuania, entered the second day of competition in fifth place with 3760 points, but quickly moved into medal contention with 943 points in the long jump (20-08.00). Skujyte continued her strong performance, recording the third-longest javelin throw at 162-08.00 for 852 points, her lowest event total below in the two days. Entering the 800-meter run, Skujyte’s point total placed her in second place, 492 points behind leader and eventual gold medalist Carolina Kluft of Sweden. Skujyte recorded 880 points in the 800 (2:15.92).
The current Wildcat assistant coach notched 974 points in the 100-meter hurdles (14.03 seconds), 928 points in the high jump (5-09.25), 955 points in the shot put (53-09.75) and 903 points in the 200-meter dash (24.82). Skujyte was the winner in the shot put and won her heat in the 200.
No stranger to international competition, Skujyte totaled 6077 points at the World Track & Field Championships in Paris and finished 12th at the 2000 Olympics in Sydney. Skujyte’s previous high in international competition is fourth at the 2002 European Championships. During her K-State career, Skujyte was named the 2002 Mondo Midwest Region Women’s Athlete of the Year by the U.S. Track & Field Coaches Association and a Verizon Academic All-District First Team selection and is the K-State record holder in the heptathlon with 6,155 points.
Former Wildcat assistant coach Shelia Burrell of the United States scored 6296 points for fourth place, for the highest U.S. finish. Burrell was the top qualifier from the United States Olympic Trials.
