Still, Eaton would have had to lose by 7 seconds in the 1500 to not repeat.
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Eaton actually trailed in the overall standings after the first round of the javelin when Mayer unleashed a massive toss of 213-4, but Eaton improved on each of his throws, culminating in a best mark of 196-1. If Eaton’s path to victory was run fast, jump far, Warner determined his would be run fast, throw far.
Eaton has now won successive Olympic and world titles to confirm his status at the best all-around athlete in the world.
Warner finished the 10-discipline competition with 8,666 points and matched Dave Steen from the 1988 Seoul Games for the best-ever Canadian finish in decathlon.
Considering his wife and fellow Duck alum Brianne Theisen-Eaton already brought home the bronze in the women’s heptathlon earlier this week, they’re going to need to clear out some space on their trophy mantle.
“To share this moment as Olympians, as Olympic medalists, with her is awesome”, Eaton said.
Clement was so confident of winning a first Olympic individual gold that in January he pushed aside his other track medals and cleared out an empty space in the trophy cabinet in his Gainesville townhouse.
They met in Eugene, Ore., a decade ago when they were both track stars at the University of OR, and they still live in the city, where they share the same coach, Harry Marra.
In the final event, Eaton stayed within a stride of Mayer for the first three laps, before breaking away on the final lap.
In an odd sight, the United States of America relay team ran by itself on the track Thursday night, trying to secure one of the top eight times in the event.
The decathlon has been contested 23 times at the Olympics since 1912.
Eaton scored 4,621 after the first day’s events, terming the performance “just going through the motions”.
The 28-year-old from OR became only the third decathlete ever, and the first since Great Britain’s Daley Thompson in 1984, to repeat as champion in the Olympics’ most grueling physical test and retain the nominal title of world’s greatest athlete.
Entering the day with a 121 point lead in the decathlon, Eaton began his march to history by running 13.80 in the 110 meter hurdles to garner an even 1,000 points.
France’s Mayer, 24, leapt into second place after a successful 5.4m pole vault, sharing the honour of highest vault of the day with Belgium’s Thomas van der Plaetsen. To be one of only three men to have won it twice is a feat that should garner Eaton a lot more attention than it does, beyond those yogurt and credit card ads, of course.
“We are making history out here”, Muhammad said of the USA team’s gold rush. The list includes Bob Mathias, Milt Campbell, Rafer Johnson, Bill Toomey, Bruce (now Caitlyn) Jenner, Dan O’Brien and Bryan Clay.
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“To win two Olympic golds in a row like Daley Thompson is very special”, he said, referring to the great British decathlete who won in 1980 and ’84.
