more photosThe Olympic decathlon consists of 10 track and field events contested over two days. Here is a look at how Ashton Eaton performed in the events; the first five took place Wednesday, the final five on Thursday.
Event No. 1: 100 meters
Eaton won his heat in 10.35 seconds, setting an Olympic record and edging fellow American Trey Hardee (10.42). The six top times came from Eaton's heat.
No. 2: long jump
Eaton posted the best jump by more than a foot — 26 feet, 4¼ inches — well ahead of Belgium's Hans van Alphen (25-0 3⁄4).
No. 3: shot put
The shot is not one of his best events, but Eaton posted a solid throw of 48-1¼. That was good enough for 11th place out of 29 competitors.e_SClBEvent No. 4: High jump
Eaton tied for the second-best jump of the day at 6-8¾. Cuba's Leonel Suarez was the only competitor to jump higher (6-11).
No. 5: 400 meters
Eaton dominated with a time of 46.90 seconds, more than a full second ahead of the second-best time (Rico Freimuth, Germany, 48.06).
No. 6: 110-meter hurdles
Eaton had the second-fastest time of all the competitors in 13.56 seconds, but he actually lost ground to his closest pursuer, Hardee (13.54).
No. 7: Discus
In one of his weaker events, Eaton lost ground again with a throw of 139-6, as Hardee closed the gap to fewer than 100 points.
No. 8: Pole vault
Eaton bounced back with the third-best vault in the decathlon at 17-¾, giving him a big lead over Hardee once again.
No. 9: Javelin
Eaton all but clinched the gold medal with a lifetime best of 203-3 — good enough to keep a solid lead with one event to go.
No. 10: 1,500 meters
With a chance at the Olympic decathlon record, Eaton just missed as he cruised to the finish with a time of 4:33.59 to clinch the gold medal.
The Associated Press and New York Times photos
