Although I had my work cut out for me for dividing up today’s column, I am giving this nod to Ashton Eaton.
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Eaton joins Daley Thompson (1980 and 1984) and Bob Mathias (1948 and 1952) as the only decathletes to win gold medals in two Olympics.
Still, going into the 1,500 meters, the final event, Eaton had a slim 44-point lead over Kevin Mayer of France.
Bronze went to Damian Warner after he overtook Kazmirek on Thursday, the fastest time in the 110m hurdles key to the Canadian’s place on the podium.
Ryan Crouser, like Eaton born in Portland, won the shot put gold medal, launching an Olympic record throw of 73-feet, 101/4 inches. As he circled the track in victory draped in an American flag, the skies over the Engenhão opened and the rain came falling down.
“I had the pleasure of being in the same era as Usain Bolt”, Eaton said.
Perhaps his second decathlon gold will change that. The young Frenchman was there to push me. “I guess I passed the test”.
Eaton topped the podium at London 2012 and did so again in Brazil with a total of 8893 points, equalling the Olympic record set by Roman Sebrle at Athens 2004 and replicating the feat last achieved by Daley Thompson of Great Britain.
“I was throwing the javelin, and this guy comes from the fire department across the street, and he’s telling me to do all these things”, Warner said.
Eaton said: “You look at 10 events, how can’t there be one stinking point in there somewhere?”
The man known as the world’s greatest all-round athlete had failed twice at a low height in the pole vault and faced a final attempt in the scorching afternoon sun at the Olympic Stadium on Thursday.
The sport I love most definitely made it hard to condense several incredible moments into today’s column.
Thanks to a season-best 8,666 points, Warner becomes the first Canadian to win a decathlon medal since Dave Steen – now a firefighter in Windsor, Ont. – claimed bronze at the 1988 Summer Games in Seoul. “It was a good test”. Eaton’s score after the first day was 4,621. McPherson is set to compete in the final on Saturday night in Estadio Olimpico. They finished second in their heat behind Japan.
The Oregonian had entered Thursday with a 121-point lead after a typically dominant performance on day one.
Warner delivered the best times of the meet in the 100 metres and the 110-metre hurdles – the two decathlon disciplines he holds the all-time best times. Only relatively middling showings in the shot put (where he finished 10th) and, surprisingly, the high jump (where he finished tied for 14th after finishing second in London) kept his opponents within to early on. “I was on the ground, exhausted”, Clement said. So I said, ‘Ash, you have to stay with him. I didn’t [do] that until past year.
China’s 15-year-old phenom Ren Qian putting on an astonishing show in the women’s platform diving finals, taking gold over countrywoman Si Yajie while splashing less water than I do during a single tooth-brushing session. “For us to have done this together is.” and then he sighed, lost for words.
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Eaton said he will spend the next few months decompressing physically and mentally from a lead-up he described as “difficult”, but is uncertain about what comes next. “I can’t word it”.
