Courtesy: Princeton Athletic CommunicationsPrinceton head men's track & field coach Fred Samara has been named head coach the US team for the 2012 Thorpe Cup.
The 19th annual Thorpe Cup will be held in Marbury, Germany from July 21-22.
The Thorpe Cup is an annual international decathlon and heptathlon meeting between the US and Germany. Incidentally, it was Samara and Harry Marra who formed the US Visa Decathlon Team in 1990. At the same time Germany was forming its own team. The two came together in 1992 and decided to establish the meet, named after Olympian Jim Thorpe.
Teams are made up of up to seven men and seven women who compete in decathlon and heptathlon. Athletes received a predetermined number of points based upon their performances in each of the events in the decathlon and heptathlon. The top five men's and top three women's scores are added together to determine the overall men's and women's team winners.
The decathlon consists of the 100, long jump, shot put, high jump, 400, 110m hurdles, discus, pole vault, javelin and 1500. The heptathlon consists of the 100m hurdles, high jump, shot put, 200, long jump, javelin and 800.
Leading the Americans is Bryan Clay, the 2008 Olympic decathlon champion, who unfortunately fell during the hurdles at the 2012 Olympic trials.
The US leads the men's side 13-5, but Germany has won the last two Cups in 2010 and 2011. Last year the Cup was held in Chula Vista, Calif, where Ashton Eaton competed in preparation for the World Championships.
