Whether running, jumping or throwing, Jamie Adjetey-Nelson was often the ‘gold standard’  during an exceptional career as one of Canada’s best decathletes.

Before establishing himself as a five-time all-Canadian with the University of Windsor track team, Adjetey-Nelson won the prestigious Royal Arcanum Award as Windsor’s best high school male athlete. A three-sport star at St. Joseph’s Secondary School, he graduated having won nine medals at the provincial level (five gold, one silver, three bronze).

More hardware awaited as his UWindsor career unfolded. He went undefeated in the university pentathlon where he was a four-time CIS champion. A four-time OUA all-star, as well as a five-time CIS all-star, Adjetey-Nelson was inducted into the UWindsor Hall of Fame and he was twice honoured as WESPY’s athlete of the year.

One of Adjetey-Nelson’s finest seasons came in 2010 when he won gold in the decathlon at the Commonwealth Games in New Delhi. He won Canada’s senior national decathlon title that year and he earned a bronze medal at the IAAF Combined Events Challenge in the Czech Republic. He was recognized as the Combined Events athlete of the year for both Athletics Ontario and  Athletics Canada.

He was silver medallist in the decathlon at the Olympic Trials in 2004, 2008 and 2012. Fate interrupted his Olympic quest in 2012 where he was leading the trials through nine of the decathlon’s 10 events. Leg cramps prevented him from finishing the 1,500 metres and having earned no points in that event, he was overtaken for Canada’s one and only Olympic spot.

Adjetey-Nelson retired from competition later that same year. After a tremendous career, he now takes his place in the Windsor/Essex County Sports Hall of Fame.