Ashton Eaton Breaks the World Record in the Decathlon

A new athlete has been crowned "the greatest athlete in history," as Ashton Eaton broke the world record in the decathlon at the Olympic trials in Eugene, Ore. The young decathlete had 8,189 points going into the final event, knowing that he needed to run it in four minutes, 16.37 seconds in order to beat the mark of the only man to have ever broken 9,000 points, Roman Sebrle.

On a rainy day at Hayward Field with every living U.S. Olympic gold medalists in the decathlon surrounding the track, Eaton stepped up to the starting line of the 1500-meter race prepared for the challenge at hand. 

As he came through the first 400 meters he tried to keep pace with the faster group of the pack, but he began to slow down as he came through on his second lap around the track. The stadium was cheering as loud as it could, hoping to give Eaton the strength he needed to cross the finish line in a time that would be his personal best by over two seconds. The bell rang and Eaton took off, pushing as hard as he could to catch the faster runners in front of him. 

Eaton turned the corner and headed down the home stretch as the clock ticked closer to the 4:16 he needed to break the record. As Eaton came closer to the finish line, Curtis Beach stepped out of the way forgetting his own goals and began to cheer for his fellow U.S. athlete to achieve his dreams. Eaton crossed the finish line in 4:14.48 and the tears of joy and ultimate satisfaction began to flow as the crowd erupted.

Ashton Eaton was quickly embraced by his mother and fiancé, and the new world-record holder and American-record holder was officially crowned as the time was put up on the board. Eaton had accomplished what so many athletes dream of, his mark of 9,039 points made him the greatest athlete in the history of athletics. 

Although it was anchored by an incredibly gutsy 1500, Eaton put up very impressive marks in all of the events over the two-day decathlon. Highlighted by a 17'4" pole vault, as well as the decathlon world record in the 100 (10.21 seconds) and long jump (27'0"). 

Ashton Eaton will be competing for Team USA. at the 2012 Olympics in London as the world-record holder in the decathlon. There is no doubt that he is the favorite to bring home the gold, and hopefully the young athlete can finish out the year with a dominating performance on the world's biggest stage.