Ashton Eaton of the US toughed it out at Rio 2016 to win his second straight Olympic decathlon gold medal, equalling the Olympic record and becoming the first man since Great Britain’s Daley Thompson to win back-to-back golds in the event. But after a US appeal a judges panel ruled that Felix had been bumped by a Brazilian runner as she began the exchange and granted the USA a chance to attempt reach a qualifying time in a time trial Thursday night. The baton went down, the Americans protested, and they got another go. The team of Tianna Bartoletta, Allyson Felix, English Gardner and Morolake Akinosun qualified with the fastest time after being allowed to rerun alone. “Our coach said before we went out there, ‘It’s just like practice, just the whole world will be watching”.
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Mayer wound up in second in the overall Decathlon standings, while Canada’s Damian Warner edged Germany’s Kai Kazmirek for the bronze. The twice world champion became just the third man to win the Olympic decathlon twice, a feat last achieved by Briton Daley Thompson at the 1984 Los Angeles Games. Crouser’s compatriot Joe Kovacs took silver and New Zealand’s Tomas Walsh bronze.
Croatia’s Sara Kolak won the women’s javelin, another first-time Olympic champion like Crouser.
Eaton, 28, has dominated the challenging event throughout the decade, and led nearly start to finish in the two-day competition on Wednesday and Thursday.
Eaton had briefly darted away from the decathlon to congratulate Clement as his teammate knelt exhausted in the midday sun after winning the hurdles, an indicator of the good feelings surging through the US track team right now.
“What else can I do to prove to the world I am the greatest?”
“The opponent is stronger than me”, Yoshida said after the match, according to the USOC. Because he is. It’s one of those things where it’s like, ‘Huh?’ I feel he should get more recognition because he’s been so awesome and so dominant.
GOLDEN HURDLERS: Clement was so confident of a first Olympic individual gold in the hurdles that he had his mother, Claudette, bring a star-spangled banner from home. She burst off the starting blocks and didn’t tire despite her blistering pace, finishing in 53.13 seconds to take home a first-place finish in her first Olympics. “I hope after these Games I will be in that bracket”, – Bolt knows how he wants to be remembered.
However tough his task was, it was made easier when Javier Culson, the 2012 Olympic bronze medallist from Puerto Rico, was disqualified for a false-start.
That unofficial title has stuck, and the US has now won 14 gold medals in the event, far more than any other country. The American stormed to victory in 47.73 seconds, holding off the challenge of Kenya’s Boniface Tumuti, who won silver in 47.78.
Four of the finishers produced national-record times, including Tumuti and Copello.
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Lest we forget, Bolt must win the 200m to keep his “Triple-Triple” dream alive and secure three sprint titles at three straight Games. Concentrating on not messing that up for Bolt, a Jamaica team led by Asafa Powell got into the final, but only finished second in their heat behind Japan.
