World's Greatest Athlete: American Ashton Eaton Wins Gold In Decathlon

Is Decathlon Gold Medalist Ashton Eaton Now The World's Greatest Athlete?

U.S. Olympians Ashton Eaton and Trey Hardee might be the best decathletes, but they're mediocre at each individual event.

Ashton Eaton Wins Gold, Trey Hardee Takes Silver In Men's Decathlon

American Ashton Eaton wrapped his incredible summer on Thursday by winning the gold medal in the decathlon with 8,869 points. Eaton finished 198 points ahead of fellow American Trey Hardee, the two-time and current defending world champion. Eaton had a cushion heading into the final event, the 1,500 meters, and he played it safe to ensure he would have enough at the finish, crossing in 4:33:59.

Eaton set the world record during Team USA trials in June and he backed up over the two-day event in London, finishing first in the 100m, 400m and the long jump. Hardee's Thursday finish clinched the first Team USA gold-silver finish in the event since 1956.

The world record holder crossed the line and made no big show of celebration, but a look of relief and satisfaction washed over his face. His teammate Hardee spoke about the special 1-2 finish and thinks there will be more success to come, via Ken Goe of The Oregonian:

"I'm a little less than six months I'll turn 29," Hardee said. "Ashton will still be 24. I think my best decathlons are in front of me. But Ashton's are too."

Cuba's Leonal Suarez finished a distant third, 346 points behind Eaton.

For more on the Olympics, check out SB Nation's London 2012 Olympics hub.

American Ashton Eaton Wins Gold In Decathlon, Trey Hardee Gets Silver

The title of "World's Greatest Athlete" now belongs to Ashton Eaton of the United States.

Just a bit more than six weeks after breaking the world record in the event, Eaton won gold in men's decathlon on Thursday at the 2012 Summer Olympics, finishing with 8,869 points. Fellow Team USA member and two-time defending world champion Trey Hardee won the silver (and the title of "World's Second-Greatest Athlete?") with 8,671 points. It marks the first time Americans went 1-2 in the Olympic decathlon since Milton Campbell and Rafer Johnson accomplished the feat in 1956. (The last time any two countrymen took the top two spots in the event was 1988, when Germans Christian Schenk and Torsten Voss took gold and silver, respectively.)

Cuba's Leonel Suarez won his second consecutive bronze medal, totaling 8,523 points to hold off Belgium's Hans van Alphen. Roman Šebrle of the Czech Republic -- who won gold medalist at the 2004 Summer Games in Athens and held the world record in the event before Eaton came along -- did not finish, withdrawing due to injuries.

Decathlon is a two-day, 10-event competition. Day 1 consists of the 100 meters, long jump, shot put, high jump and 400m, and Day 2 includes the 110m hurdles, discus throw, pole vault, javelin throw and 1500m.

Eaton had the best performance in three of the disciplines, winning the 100m, long jump and 400m. He also finished tied for second in high jump and took third in pole vault. In the final event of the competition, the 1500m, Eaton placed seventh, finishing in a time of 4 minutes, 33:59 seconds. He needed to run 4:29.86 to break the Olympic record of 8,893 points.

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Ashton Eaton, Trey Hardee 1-2 In Decathlon With Just 1 Event Remaining

Cuba's Leonel Suarez scored the highest point total in the javelin of the men's decathlon on Thursday, throwing a 76.94 on his first attempt, easily the best mark of the day. Sergey Sviridov had the second-best throw, at 68.42, a full 8.5 meters behind Suarez.

The javelin gave Suarez 996 points and propelled him into third place in the decathlon overall standings, with just the 1500 meters remaining. That is as far as he will climb onto the podium, however, as Americans Ashton Eaton and Trey Hardee finished 9th and 3rd in javelin, further increasing their stranglehold on the gold and silver medal, respectively.

Eaton set a new world record in decathlon at the U.S. Team Trials in June, scoring 9039 points to break Roman Sebrle's (Czech Republic) mark that had stood for 11 years. And while that seems out of reach in London, he still has a shot at the Sebrle's Olympic record of 8893 points. Eaton needs 746 points, which means he needs to run a time of 4:29.86 in the 1500m (4:20 p.m. ET).

Ashton Eaton Third In Pole Vault, Continues To Lead Decathlon

Americans Aston Eaton and Trey Hardee remain first and second in the decathlon after the eighth event of the competition, pole vault.

Eaton increased his lead, finishing third in the pole vault with a mark of 5.2 meters. Hardee finished ninth in the event with a mark of 4.8 meters, but still increased his hold on second place. Gonzalo Barroilhet of Chile had the top performance in pole vault clearing a height of 5.4 meters, but he sits in tenth place overall and is unlikely to medal.

Only two events remain, the javelin and 1500 meters. Hardee is one of the better decathletes at javelin and Eaton among the best at 1500m, so both are in good position to hold onto their sizeable leads. The race for bronze, however, is wide open.

The top of the standings:

1. Ashton Eaton, USA – 7381
2. Trey Hardee, USA – 7159
3. Rico Freimuth, Germany – 6927
4. Damian Warner, Canada – 6916
5. Oleksiy Kasyanov, Ukraine – 6901

The javelin will take place at 1:30 p.m. ET and the decathlon will conclude with the 1500m race at 4:20 p.m. ET.

For more on the Decathlon competition, check out this story stream. For more on the Olympics, check out SB Nation's London 2012 Olympics Hub.

Ashton Eaton Leads Men's Decathlon Early On Day 2, Trey Hardee Second

With strong performances on the 110m hurdles and discus throw, two American athletes have the top two slots with three events left in the men's decathlon.

Trey Hardee had the fastest heat of any competitor on the hurdles and the third longest throw on the discus, keeping him in second place, while Ashton Eaton held on to the top spot with the second-fastest hurdles heat, despite a poor showing on the discus.

Hardee ran the hurdles at a personal best 13.54, closely followed by Eaton at 13.56. Only one other competitor, Rico Freimuth of Germany, cracked the 14-second mark. Freimuth would have the longest throw in the discus, 49.11 meters, as well, placing him in fifth overall for the competition. Eaton's toss in the discus was one of the worst in the field at 42.53 meters, allowing Freimuth to gain 136 points on his lead, but Eaton will still need to falter later for the poor showing to matter much as he still has a sizable lead.

The top of the standings with three events to go:

1. Ashton Eaton, USA, 6409
2. Trey Hardee, USA, 6310
3. Oleksiy Kasyanov, Ukraine, 6111
4. Damian Warner, Canada, 6097
5. Rico Freimuth, Germany, 6047

The pole vault, javelin throw, and 1500m run are later today, wrapping up the competition.

For more on the Olympics, check out SB Nation's London 2012 Olympics Hub.

Ashton Eaton Wins 400m, Increases Lead In Decathlon

The final event of men's decathlon on day one of the two-day event was the 400 meter dash, and it was won easily by American Ashton Eaton with a time of 46.90. No one else finished in under 48 seconds.

The 400m win gave Eaton another 963 points, bringing his total to 4661 points halfway through the decathlon, and increased his lead over fellow American Trey Hardee who is currently in second place with 4441 points. Canada's Damian Warner is third with 4386 points.

Hardee, the two-time defending world champion, had the third-best time in the 400m, running it in 48.11 seconds.

Eaton, the current world record holder in the event after breaking the 11-year old mark earlier this year at the U.S. Olympic Team Trials, won three of the five events on Wednesday: 100m, long jump and 400m. He was 11th in shot put and second in high jump.

The competition concludes on Thursday with five more events: 110m hurdles, discus throw, pole vault, javelin throw and 1500m.

For more on the Olympics, check out SB Nation's London 2012 Olympics Hub.

Americans Ashton Eaton, Trey Hardee 1-2 In Decathlon After High Jump

Team USA's Ashton Eaton and Trey Hardee are well out in front of the decathlon field at the 2012 Olympics. Eaton and Hardee are first and second in the decathlon standings after the high jump, and significantly so.

Eaton, who set a new world record for points in the decathlon at the U.S. Olympic Trials, sits comfortably ahead of Hardee at 3698 points, which is 161 points ahead of Hardee's 3537. That lead is larger than Hardee's on Russia's Sergei Svirdov, who is in eighth place at 3380 points.

Hardee has a healthy lead on Belgium's Hans Van Alphen, in third with 3489 points. Van Alphen is two points ahead of Damian Warner of Canada, who sits in fourth with 3487 points.

Eaton placed first in the 100 meters and the long jump, and second in the high jump. Hardee has been in the top 10 in all four events so far.

Wednesday's final event is the 400 meters, which will wrap the first half of the decathlon.

For more on the Olympics, check out SB Nation's London 2012 Olympics Hub.

Ashton Eaton, Trey Hardee Maintain Decathlon Lead After 3 Events

Early on in the men's decathlon at the 2012 Olympic Games in London, Americans Ashton Eaton and Trey Hardee are threatening to make this a two-man race. The first three events in the decathlon have wrapped up on Wednesday morning, with two more events scheduled for the day in the evening session.

After the 100 meters, the long jump and the shot put, Eaton is out in front with a cumulative 2848 points, which is a bit of a comfortable lead on Hardee, who stands at 2743. Oleksiy Kasyanov of the Ukraine is sitting in third place with 2664 points.

Hardee picked up nearly 50 points on Eaton in the shot put, but there is still a long way to go for 2012's version of Dan and Dave.

Wednesday's last two events will be the high jump and the 400 meters, bringing the competitors up to the midway point.

For more on the Olympics, check out SB Nation's London 2012 Olympics Hub.

Americans Ashton Eaton, Trey Hardee Early Leaders In Men's Decathlon After 2 Events

American Ashton Eaton is the early leader in men's decathlon at the 2012 Summer Olympics following the first two events Wednesday morning. Eaton had the best performance in both the 100 meters and long jump, putting him first place with 2079 points. Another member of Team USA, Trey Hardee, two-time defending World Champion, is second, with 1936 points.

All eyes are on Eaton after he scored 9,039 total points at the U.S. Olympic Team Trials in June, breaking Roman Serbie's 11-year world record. He was also the runner-up to Hardee at the 2011 World Championships

Eaton got off to the best start possible Wednesday morning, winning the 100m dash in 10.35 seconds, and placing first in long jump with a leap of 8.03 meters. Eaton's time in the 100m beat the 10.41s run by American Bill Toomey 44 years ago. Canada's Damian Warner is in third place after the first two events.

Decathlon is a two-day, 10-event competition. Day 1 consists of 100m, long jump, shot put, high jump and 400m, and on Day 2 it's 110m hurdles, discus throw, pole vault, javelin throw and 1500m.

American Bryan Clay, 2008 gold medalist, failed to qualify for London.

For more on the Olympics, check out SB Nation's London 2012 Olympics Hub.