World Record (WR) holder in the Decathlon, Ashton Eaton continued his dominance in the event at the Rio 2016 Games, tying the Olympic Record (OR) of 8893 points to successfully defend his title from London 2012, becoming only the third decathlete in history to defend an Olympic title.
Eaton joins fellow American Bob Mathias (1948 and 1952) and Great Britain’s Daley Thompson (1980 and 1984) in achieving this feat, and can be referred to as one of the world’s greats as far as the event is concerned.
The Decathlon at the Rio Olympics was a historic one by all standards. Frenchman Kevin Mayer who won Silver with a National Record (NR) of 8834 points, is the first French decathlete since 1948 to finish on the podium of the event at the Olympics.
Meanwhile Damian Warner is the first Canadian since 1988 to win a medal in the Decathlon. He placed 3rd in a Season’s Best (SB) of 8666 points.
Eaton, who is the 2015 IAAF Athlete of the Year, had some great performances in the Long Jump and 400m where he finished 1st overall with marks of 7.94m and 46.07s respectively. He placed 2nd in the 100m (10.46s) and 110 Hurdles (13.80s) and finished 4th in the 1500m (4:23.33) and Pole vault (5.20m).
Eaton is the reigning World Champion (indoor and outdoor) and has dominated the Decathlon for almost a decade now. His wife Brianne Theisen-Eaton who competes for Canada, won a Bronze medal in the Heptathlon on Day 2 of the ongoing Olympic Games.
