Chris Huffins

2000 Sydney Olympics Leading into the Sydney Games, Huffins established himself as one of the best decathletes in the world. In 1998, he finished second in the Goodwill Games, and in 1999, Huffins won the Pan American Games and finished third at the 1999 World Championships in the decathlon. At the 2000 USA Olympic trials, Huffins finished second behind Tom Pappas and ahead of Kip Janvrin, his future teammates at Sydney.

At the Sydney Olympics, Huffins performed consistently, and after the first nine events, including the javelin, he led eventual winner Erki Nool by 14 points. In the concluding 1500m event, Huffins ran a hard race, beating his previous best time by almost 13 seconds. It was enough to capture the bronze medal. Huffins score was a season's best of 8595 points and only 46 points short of gold medalist Erki Nool.

On the topic of not winning the gold medal, Huffins later said there were as many bronze medals as gold medals, so he didn't feel any less honored for finishing third.

Coaching career After spending some time as an assistant coach for Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, North Carolina and Georgia Tech in Atlanta, Georgia, Huffins was hired at his alma mater, the University of California, to coach his old team, the Golden Bears. Under his direction, the team has won 14 All-American honors, set 12 new school records, sent five athletes to the 2004 Summer Olympics, and in 2005, two of Huffin's athletes were ranked in the top 10 in the United States.

On May 29, 2007, Huffins announced his resignation from his position as director of track and field at the University of California.

After brief stints at Boise State University, Eastern Michigan University, the University of Oklahoma and Clemson, he is currently (2014–2015) going into his second year coaching the Purdue Boilermakers.

Achievements 1992 Olympic Trials - decathlon - 16th 1993 NCAA - decathlon - 1st 1993 USA Outdoor Track & Field Championships - decathlon - 9th 1993 Pacific-10 Conference, decathlon - 1st 1993 Ranked by Track and Field News decathlon - 9th U.S. 1995 USA Outdoor Track & Field Championships - decathlon - 2nd 1995 1995 World Championships in Athletics Ullevi Stadium, Gothenburg, Sweden - decathlon - 8th 1995 Ranked by Track and Field News decathlon - 8th World, 2nd U.S. 1996 Olympic Trials - decathlon - 3rd 1996 1996 Summer Olympics Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. - decathlon - 10th 1996 Ranked by Track and Field News decathlon - 10th World, 3rd U.S. 1997 USA Outdoor Track & Field Championships - decathlon - 2nd 1997 Ranked by Track and Field News decathlon - 7th World, 2nd U.S. 1998 USA Outdoor Track & Field Championships - decathlon - 1st 1998 Deca Jam, - decathlon - 1st 1998 Goodwill Games, - decathlon - 2nd 1998 Ranked by Track and Field News decathlon - 5th World, 2nd U.S. 1998 Recipient of the John H. Bennett Award presented by USA Track & Field 1999 USA Outdoor Track & Field Championships - decathlon - 1st 1999 Pan Am Games - decathlon - 1st 1999 World Championships - decathlon - 3rd 1999 Recipient of the John H. Bennett Award presented by USA Track & Field 2000 Olympic Trials - decathlon - 2nd 2000 2000 Summer Olympics Sydney, Australia - decathlon - 3rd 2000 Ranked by Track and Field News decathlon - 4th World, 1st U.S. 2000 Inducted into the Indiana State Track & Field Hall of Fame 2000 Recipient of the John H. Bennett Award presented by USA Track and Field

Huffins holds the heptathlon world best in the 60 m dash with a time of 6.61 seconds.

Personal bests Information from World Athletics profile unless otherwise noted.

Event Performance Location Date Points Decathlon 8,694 points New Orleans June 20, 1998 8,694 points 100 meters 10.22 (+0.9 m/s) Atlanta June 21, 1996 1,042 points Long jump (+2.5 m/s) Azusa April 18, 1996 1,079 points Shot put Atlanta June 21, 1996 878 points High jump New Orleans June 19, 1998 973 points 400 meters 48.05 Atlanta June 21, 1996907 points 110 meters hurdles 13.82 (+1.5 m/s) Indianapolis June 12, 1997 998 points Discus throw New Orleans June 20, 1998 938 points Pole vault New Orleans June 12, 1997 880 points Javelin throw Sevilla August 25, 1999 803 points 1500 meters 4:38.71 Sydney September 28, 2000 688 points Virtual Best Performance 9,186 points