After the first day of the contest, Chris Huffins found himself in an eight-point lead ahead of Dean Macey.

On the next day, Nool dropped to fifth place after the 110 metres hurdles but advanced again after the controversial discus contest.

However, Nool successfully appealed the ring-foul ruling and had his throw measured to 43.66 metres which saw him climb one place.

Following Nool's strong result in the javelin throw event Huffins' lead had shrunk to only 14 points before the 1500 metres.

The best marks for each event were split between eight competitors with the gold medallist claiming none (which is unusual in an Olympic decathlon) but placing second in three of them.