Bulletin E-Edition:
Ashton Eaton lays in the pit after taking a jump as he competes in the decathlon long jump during the World Track & Field Championships in Berlin on Wednesday.
Gero Breloer / The Associated Press
Eaton is a surprising fifth halfway through decathlon
University of Oregon athlete from Bend has a big day
By Steve Ritchie / For The Bulletin
Published: August 20. 2009 4:00AM PSTBERLIN — Bend’s Ashton Eaton once again surpassed expectations during a grueling first day of decathlon competition Wednesday at the World Track & Field Championships.
Despite having competed only once previously in international competition, Eaton managed to come through the initial five decathlon events at Olympic Stadium in great shape. He scored a first-day total of 4,355 points, which put him in fifth place overall going into the second and final day of the 10-event competition today.
Eaton, 21 and a senior-to-be at the University of Oregon, trails the leader, Oleksiy Kasyanov of the Ukraine, by just 200 points.
U.S. champion Trey Hardee is in third place with 4,511 points.
The competition began bright and early for Eaton and the other 34 athletes in the decathlon field. Eaton said he did his “morning shakeout” at 6:15 a.m. to get ready for the first event — the 100 meters — which started at 10 a.m. The day would be a long one, not ending until more than 12 hours later with the 400 meters.
Eaton and Hardee both got off to a fast start in the day’s first event. Running in the same heat of the 100, they finished second and first, respectively, with the day’s fastest times in that event. Eaton’s time of 10.53 seconds was just .04 seconds off his best “legal” (non-wind-aided) mark ever.
“Coming in, I wanted to start it off right ... and I definitely got it going in the 100,” Eaton said.
He did even better in the day’s second event, the long jump. On his first of three jumps, Eaton soared to an all-time personal best of 25 feet, 9 1/4 inches, and led all decathletes here in that event. At that point he was in second place overall, only 14 points behind Hardee.
The shot put, which came next, didn’t go nearly as well. Eaton, who said at this point in his career shot put is an event he just has “to manage,” trailed most of the field with his best throw of 40 feet, 2 3/4 inches. That mark is nearly two feet off his personal best, and it resulted in Eaton falling to seventh place overall.
However, it didn’t take him long to mount a comeback. In the fourth event, the high jump, Eaton came through twice with clearances on his last attempt and stayed alive for the next height. He ended up clearing 6 feet, 7 1/2 inches, which earned him 822 points and moved him up one spot to sixth.
Even with two high jump pits being used, contesting that event took more than three hours because of the number of athletes competing. The final event of the day, the 400 meters, was scheduled for 8:50 p.m. (Berlin time) but did not start until nearly 10:00 p.m. because of the late-running high jump.
Eaton was expected to do well in the 400, and he delivered a solid performance, running the one-lap race in 47.75, less than a second off his personal best. Another runner in his heat, Yunior Diaz of Cuba, set an all-time championship record for the 400, clocking 46.15.
After the long day, Eaton said, “I’m feeling pretty tired, but I think everybody is in the same boat.”
He also said he was happy with his standing after the first day, and that he would go out today and try to be consistent in all five events (110-meter hurdles, discus, pole vault, javelin and 1,500 meters).
“The key to any decathlon is consistency,” Eaton said, “so I just have to not worry about PRs and just get consistent marks in every event.”
ARTICLE ACCESS: This article is among those available to all readers. Many more articles are available only to E-Edition members. Sign up today!
blog comments powered by Disqus
