Decathlete Trey Hardee is in a good place. That’s because the 29-year-old is finally healthy and “fit as a fiddle,” he said.
In addition, the 2012 Olympic silver medalist believes he’s in the best years of his career.
That belief helps Hardee to stay calm and prepare for the upcoming season, he said in an interview with Flotrack.org.
“(There’s) no pressure, no real enormous stage. This is all personal,” Hardee said when asked about the early part of the 2013 season. “I’m in the best part of my career. I’m in that bandwidth where everything kind of comes together historically for a decathlete. I’ve had a good run of years, a good block of training leading up to this season, and we really feel like stuff’s going to start timing up.”
Hardee, who spent part of the 2012 season recovering from elbow surgery, has already earned a berth to the 2013 World Championships in Moscow. There, Hardee will attempt to win his third-consecutive world championship title in the decathlon. Hardee won gold medals in the event at the 2009 and 2011 world championships.
The fact that he’s already qualified for the meet helps Hardee relax, he said. As a result, he expects his preparation and training leading into the meet will be better.
“Because we have an off year and then the next Olympics, and then you get an automatic berth, so for the last four years I’ve had this really nice safety next of being able to train,” Hardee said during the interview with Flotrack.org. “So for me, personally, I want to be better than I’ve ever been.”
Of the 2011 World Championships, he added: “Daegu was frustrating, but winning was the ultimate foal and so I walked away from that with the utmost confidence.”
Hardee plans to bring that confidence to the 2013 season, where he will look to challenge American teammate and world record holder Ashton Eaton for the top spot.
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