PRAGUE, Czech Republic -- Tomas Dvorak wasn't completely satisfied after breaking Dan O'Brien's world decathlon record.
The Czech star was upset by a costly mistake in the final 1,500-meter event Sunday that left him just short of the "magical barrier" of 9,000 points."Only a couple of points and I would have had 9,000, but at least I'll have some motivation for next time," Dvorak said after competing in 90-degree weather at Strahov stadium. "The conditions were exceptionally good."
In smashing O'Brien's mark by 103 points with 8,994 points in the European Cup event, Dvorak had a legitimate shot at becoming the first decathlete to accumulate 9,000 points.
He needed to run the 1,500 in 4 minutes, 36.34 seconds, more than six seconds slower than his best of 4:29.69. To tie O'Brien's record, Dvorak needed to run a comfortable 4:53.87.
He finished in 4:37.20 after making a mistake in the second lap.
"We slowed down a bit and we got punished," Dvorak said. "I had enough power in the last lap, but it was too late.
"If I had performed beyond 9,000 points, I would have had a message for O'Brien, but now it's better to shut up," Dvorak added.
O'Brien set the previous record of 8,891 in 1992 at Talence, France, after failing to qualify for the U.S. team for the Barcelona Olympics.
Dvorak, 27, had a previous best of 8,837 points in his 1997 World Championship victory in Athens, Greece. He was the bronze medalist in the 1996 Atlanta Olympics.
Dvorak was 75 points behind O'Brien's record pace after the first five events Saturday. The Czech star set three personal bests Saturday, with a time of 10.54 seconds in the 100 meters and marks of 25 feet, 11 inches in the long jump and 55-0 in the shot put.
He also cleared 6-8 1/4 in the high jump and ran the 400 in 48.08 seconds.
On Sunday, Dvorak won the 110 hurdles in 13.73 seconds and had personal bests of 158-6 1/2 in the discus and 237-3 in the javelin.
After clearing 16-0 3/4 in the pole vault, Dvorak was still 76 points behind O'Brien's pace. The Czech star passed up three attempts at 16-4 3/4.
"I saved my energy for the javelin," said Dvorak, who earned 925 points for the strong javelin effort to move 72 points ahead of O'Brien's record pace entering the 1,500.