EUGENE, Ore. — Meter by meter, Ashton Eaton kept swallowing up real estate on a track that has always felt like home.
Second by second, the clock to the side of the track ticked away — daring him to cross the finish line in a time that would put his name in the record book.
Eaton was every bit as relentless and stubborn as that clock Saturday. He set a personal best in the exhausting 1,500-meter finale and is now the world-record holder in the decathlon — the cream of the crop in the event that determines the world’s best athlete.
“This is just crazy,” Eaton said.
He finished the grueling two-day event with 9,039 points in the U.S. Olympic trials to beat Roman Sebrle’s 11-year-old mark by 13 points. Eaton joined the likes of Bruce Jenner, Dan O’Brien and Rafer Johnson among Americans who have held the world record. He did it on the 100th anniversary of the first Olympic decathlon — and many of the American greats who have made history in the event were on hand to watch Eaton do the same.
“I knew this day was coming,” O’Brien said. “I really did.”
Eaton, a 24-year-old former NCAA champion for the University of Oregon, needed a time of 4 minutes, 16.37 seconds in the 1,500 to break the mark. He finished in 4:14.48.
When it was over, he bent down and put his hands on his knees, then brought them up to cover his mouth. Tears were falling. He was elated and shocked at the same time.
“I wanted it to be a special event because this is my home state, my hometown, my home university,” he told the crowd at Oregon’s Hayward Field. “And just from the start, I just wanted to perform well.”
What to do for an encore?
We’ll see in six weeks in London, where he’ll go in as the favorite, along with the man he beat, defending world champion Trey Hardee, who finished 656 points back.
Chances for an American medal sweep in London, thought to be a good possibility, were vanquished when defending Olympic champion Bryan Clay fell during the hurdles. He finished 12th.
Everything else on this memorable evening in Oregon got second billing — even Lolo Jones’ lean at the finish line to earn the third and final Olympic spot in the 100 hurdles by 0.04 seconds. Dawn Harper won in 12.73.
Allyson Felix won’t be in the 100 in London. She lost third place by less than 0.001 to Jeneba Tarmoh. Carmelita Jeter won the race in 10.92.
Elsewhere, Tyson Gay made it through his first 100 heat cleanly, while LaShawn Merritt, Jeremy Wariner and Sanya Richards-Ross all advanced in the 400.
Nobody, however, covered more ground, or did it better, than Eaton.
“I thought I’d get a good 100, a good long jump and from there, just have a go at it and make the team,” Eaton said. “But when you’re in this place, in this atmosphere, this is what happens. I’m so glad I was able to be a part of it.”
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