¶2012OT mDec—Ashton Eaton 9039 WR!!!!!

[lonewolf]

Decathlete gets the points for the highest clearance made regardless of how many misses he had a lower heights.

[AS]

Out of curiosity, does any of you decathlon/statistics experts have the number for the hypothetical decathlon score consisting of the WRs in the ten events?

12548 pts

Highest scoring event is Discus: 1383 pts
Lowest is hurdles: 1126

Last World Champs scored: 11563 (remembering there were some slow track outcomes)

Current 2012 #1s: 11779
Current 2012 #10s: 11291 (and Eaton has one of them - LJ!)

All calculated from
http://www.decathlon2000.com/eng/884/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_wo ... ld_records
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2011_World ... tics#Track
http://www.tilastopaja.org/db/toplist.p ... eason=2012

[j-a-m]

12548 pts

Highest scoring event is Discus: 1383 pts
Lowest is hurdles: 1126

Last World Champs scored: 11563 (remembering there were some slow track outcomes)

Current 2012 #1s: 11779
Current 2012 #10s: 11291 (and Eaton has one of them - LJ!)

Great stuff, thanks.

[TrackCEO]

I was at Pre when Webb beat Ryun's HS record. Was it louder than that? The crowd must have been phenomenal.

So was I and that's a very good question. Given that we had about 7000 more fans yesterday, it was probably louder, but no less intense. I do believe it was both louder and more intense yesterday than in the men's 800m final in '08, but we're probably splitting hairs.

I was in the press box for 2008 and at the bottom of the stands for 2012. The volume and intensity of the 800 finish dwarfed that of the dec 1500, IMHO.

K E N

[jeremyp]

Y'all know what a big Eaton fan I am but he is by no means a shoe in for Gold. Hardee is still coming back from his elbow injury and if it continues to heal he will be a force to be reckoned with.

I have my doubts whether Ashton can repeat this performance in London. Not that he can not win but that the pressure of the Olympics plus the fact that he will need time to refocus and get re-motivated may mean his marks are the same or lower.

I hope I am wrong and if anyone can do it it is him...I do think he can score higher just not sure it will be this summer.

Yes we do have to remember his 2011 fall from Eugene's 8729 to Daegu's 8505, with 7 poorer events. BUT we also have to remember he only did 13.70 (13.35PB) in the hurdles this year, and 46.7 in a downpour (in which Hardee was 1.5 off his PB). With Hardee not looking like 8700 material this year a 8750 by Eaton should win. After all he has met London's potential conditions and prevailed.

[bruce3404]

. With Hardee not looking like 8700 material this year a 8750 by Eaton should win.

8750. Exactly the number I came up with yesterday in a similar discussion. He'll score more, but probably doesn't need to. Hardee's best decathlons have been 8790 (Berlin '09) and 8607
(Daegu '11); doubtful that he can equal his Berlin total, given the arm situation.

[hc10003]

Decathlete gets the points for the highest clearance made regardless of how many misses he had a lower heights.

Thank you lonewolf for the info.

[Fortius19]

Great thread!

Marlow, so glad you were able to be there to see this live!

I only wish I had been there too!

[TrackCEO]

An Azusa Pacific friend of Clay's has launched a Facebook page and website that calls on USATF to let Bryan chase the "A" standard:

http://patch.com/A-v477

K E N

[indigo]

What's with the USATF site? First it gives live results then it doesn't? Where are the results???
Anybody? All I get is a blank screen in the USATF results section. What do I need to do to get them?

I had a similar problem. Try clearing your cache, or opening the page in a different browser.

This does work in Firefox:
http://www.usatf.org/events/2012/Olympi ... ts39-2.htm
even immediate updates...

Is there precedence?
My memory is in 1984 or 1988 Jane Frederick was the only competitor who had the "A" qualification. She did not finish top 3 and did not go to the games

[Grasshopper]

Is there precedence?
My memory is in 1984 or 1988 Jane Frederick was the only competitor who had the "A" qualification. She did not finish top 3 and did not go to the games

I don't think people are arguing that athletes (Clay, in this case) should be sent without the A-standard, but rather that they should be given up until the VERY last moment (USATF's deadline is earlier than it needs to be) to try to achieve that standard, especially in events where less than 3 athletes have it (and therefore spots on the team will be left empty).

[nbonaddio]

In case anyone needs any more perspective at how ridiculous Eaton's performance was, go to IAAF's top lists and compare Ashton's events to the #2, van Alphen in Gotzis.

Remarkable.

[ralmcg]

How about everybody on this board to ask General Mills, the makers of Wheaties cereal, to put Ashton Eaton on the Wheaties box. The contact page is http://consumercontacts.generalmills.com/ConsolidatedContact.aspx?page=http://www.wheaties.com&js=True. Hopefully his face will be on it, which he so richly deserves.

I got a response from General Mills about putting Ashton Eaton's image on a Wheaties box. The consumer representative said that there are lots of requests for a particular athlete or team to be on the box and that General Mills can't put all of them on the box. I believe the reason is that there are more athletes or teams requested than there are opportunities to be on the box.

I believe that to better the chances of Eaton's image being on the Wheaties box I call again for the viewers of this message, and any others, to contact General Mills and request this action. The contact page for General Mills can be found at the quote above.

[bruce3404]

I don't care much for Wheaties, but I'd sure buy a box and stick it on a bookshelf.

[indigo]

Is there precedence?
My memory is in 1984 or 1988 Jane Frederick was the only competitor who had the "A" qualification. She did not finish top 3 and did not go to the games

I don't think people are arguing that athletes (Clay, in this case) should be sent without the A-standard, but rather that they should be given up until the VERY last moment (USATF's deadline is earlier than it needs to be) to try to achieve that standard, especially in events where less than 3 athletes have it (and therefore spots on the team will be left empty).

Interesting.
I don't know if Clay does or does not have the A standard. I mistakenly thought he did have it.
I admit I'm not familar with the USTAF deadline.

If the deadline was not so soon it would affect Horn & Clay

The Jane Frederick analogy is if Clay gets an "A" standard and Horn does not.

[slowjo]

Rumour has it that Ashton will be in Caglary to support Brianne Thiesen. That would be exciting of course but I can't help but wonder....he will no doubt attract a lot of attention and that might not be such a good thing with a very important comp going on for her.

It will be interesting to see if he does come and I(and I hope everyone) will do my level best to give him the space he needs and deserves to support her and to have the focus where it should be-on a very fine athlete who also has a very good shot of going to the O's.

At least it is in Canada.....

[DecFan]

Lonewolf, lost in the message board jungle, posted this under current events:

Can't find the Decathlon thread but someone mentioned that Detmer's backing off allowing Eaton to win cost him third place in the competition.
Never saw follow up to that so looked it up myself.
In case any one is still interested:
Sure nuff. Detmer ran 4:14.77 for 848 points , Total 7931 , needed to run 4:11.36 for 24 points to total 7955 to displace Horn.
I believe he was capable of 4:11 but it may just be arithmatic since (I understand) he needed 8200 to go to London.
Just hate loose ends.

Thanks for the calculations, lonewolf. They are interesting.

As you say, what was at stake was 3rd place in the competition, not a trip to London.

Detmer needed to beat Horn by 21 to 22 seconds (depending on how fast Horn ran) in order to take third. While he has a PR of 4:04, that was a long time ago, and Horn had a PR of 4:29. It's possible he figured that recent college graduate Horn would run somewhat faster than his PR, and that he (Detmer) would not be able to beat him by that much. So perhaps he was surprised after the fact to find that 3rd place was within his grasp. (I agree that he was capable of 4:11).

Alternately, he decided that being present the moment of a decathlon WR and giving Eaton a target to chase after the last 300m was more important than taking his highest possible place in the competition, so the point calculations had no bearing on what he did.

[lonewolf]

Thanks, Dec Fan .
Yeah, I am sure he did not know Horn was going to run 4:33 giving him a shot at third..so it was still a classy move.

[Jnathletics]

Can't believe ESPN, Eaton's WR was only 10th on the top ten plays of the week?!?! A fan catching the ball with a hat was better?!?!?

They should have done an all Eaton top ten
10 Jav 193'-1 (721)
9 Disc 140'-5 (722)
8 SP 46'-7 (741)
7 HJ 6'8 (850)
6 1500 4:14 (850)
5 400 46.7 (973)
4 PV 17'4 (1004)
3 110H 13.70 (1014)
2 100 10.21 (1044)
1 LJ 27'-0 (1120)

9039 WR!!!!!!!!!

How any of those everyday occurances are better then a decade long achievement, I'll never know.

[DecFan]

Can't believe ESPN, Eaton's WR was only 10th on the top ten plays of the week?!?! A fan catching the ball with a hat was better?!?!?
. . .

How any of those everyday occurances are better then a decade long achievement, I'll never know.

Because in ESPN's mind, if they don't broadcast it, it must not be important.

[j-a-m]

Rumour has it that Ashton will be in Caglary to support Brianne Thiesen.

He said it himself in an interview following his WR, so I guess it's more than just a rumor.

[bruce3404]

Rumour has it that Ashton will be in Caglary to support Brianne Thiesen.

He said it himself in an interview following his WR, so I guess it's more than just a rumor.

Not a doubt in the world that he'll be up there. He sat a few rows in front of us at the Pac 12 multis and was having a delightful time whooping it up and, presumably, watching someone else deal with the pressure. At one point he yelled out "This is the most fun ever!".

[Bruce Kritzler]

I don't think people are arguing that athletes (Clay, in this case) should be sent without the A-standard, but rather that they should be given up until the VERY last moment (USATF's deadline is earlier than it needs to be) to try to achieve that standard, especially in events where less than 3 athletes have it (and therefore spots on the team will be left empty).

Think USATF wants to keep the Olympic Trials as the most important domestic meet, and name the team at the Trials, no some podunk time trial on July 8.

[Marlow]

It occurs to me that even as much more potential as we all believe this young man has, he may never exceed this mark and we will consider it a great career.

As I sat there, trying to drink in the moment, it similarly occurred to me that this might be the high-point of his career. But considering how mediocre his throws are (compared to his physical potential), the likelihood of this remaining his PR seems infinitesimally small. He may never PR again in the 100, LJ, PV or 1500, but his upside in ALL the other events is extraordinary. His 110H is the next event to become world-class. Clearly he can go faster in the 400, his HJ can improve a little, and his throws will all get LOTS better!!!! 9200 is the threshhold and 9400 is doable in 4 more years. On the other hand I will never get a better spectator PR in ANY event!!!

[AS]

He may never PR again in the 100, LJ, PV or 1500, but his upside in ALL the other events is extraordinary. His 110H is the next event to become world-class. Clearly he can go faster in the 400, his HJ can improve a little, and his throws will all get LOTS better!!!!

We probably need to distinguish the "revealed" and "unrevealed" upside.

By revealed, I mean those those instances where he's performed considerably better outside a decath rather than within.

So you're right that his 110mH "is the next event to become world-class", because it already is (13.34PR vs 13.53DPR (Decathlon PR)). And the 400m (45.68PR vs 46.28DPR).

I would suggest there's still also a lot of unrevealed upside in his PV, simply because he's still improving/learning in a technical event, and PRed in pretty miserable conditions in an event with good pts up for grabs.

And his throws can surely only get better

As an aside, Eaton is the youngest man to ever go 8800+ pts, and one of only two 24 year olds to do so (the other was Clay's 8820 in Athens in 2004).

Best score by someone younger than Eaton - Uwe Freimuth's 8792 at 22 years 10 mths

[einnod23]

I love a great 1500-running decathlete! And 4:14 makes this WR legit!

And yes, one has to get the gold before the Wheaties box, but man, 9039 is sick!

[TrackCEO]

USATF has posted a statement by Bryan Clay that he won't chase the "A" standard.

I've updated my story about the fan drive to allow such a chase:
http://patch.com/A-v477

Many thanks to Sam Borden of the NYT for linking to my story this morning!

K E N

[einnod23]

USATF has posted a statement by Bryan Clay that he won't chase the "A" standard.

I've updated my story about the fan drive to allow such a chase:
http://patch.com/A-v477

Many thanks to Sam Borden of the NYT for linking to my story this morning!

K E N

I am of the strong belief that mark-chasing should end at the Trials! I'm sorry we won't see Brian in London, but I think this is the fairest policy to all of the athletes!

[Dave]

It occurs to me that even as much more potential as we all believe this young man has, he may never exceed this mark and we will consider it a great career.

As I sat there, trying to drink in the moment, it similarly occurred to me that this might be the high-point of his career. But considering how mediocre his throws are (compared to his physical potential), the likelihood of this remaining his PR seems infinitesimally small. He may never PR again in the 100, LJ, PV or 1500, but his upside in ALL the other events is extraordinary. His 110H is the next event to become world-class. Clearly he can go faster in the 400, his HJ can improve a little, and his throws will all get LOTS better!!!! 9200 is the threshhold and 9400 is doable in 4 more years. On the other hand I will never get a better spectator PR in ANY event!!!

Even though I got smacked down earlier for suggesting it, I think he does have enormous potential to improve his PV and should take some time to focus on it (*either by spending some off season time with Petrov or some other specialist).

He may have maxed out his 100, LJ, 400, and 1500. His HJ seems oddly and consistently below his best. Yeah his throws can probably continue to improve with technique as they have already.

Potentially there are a lot more points there and I suspect he really won't need another two cold, rainy days in Eugene to bring them out. However, if 9039 was the best he has, it is indeed glorious.

*no, I am not suggesting a coaching change. His current coach seems quite up to the overall task.

[j-a-m]

He may have maxed out his 100, LJ, 400, and 1500. His HJ seems oddly and consistently below his best. Yeah his throws can probably continue to improve with technique as they have already.

Why is he maxed out in the 1500? I agree that his potential to increase his score is much higher in the throws, but I'd still expect him to lower his 1500 PR by a couple of seconds sooner or later.

[unclezadok]

I'm pretty sure he has not maxed out in the 400m, the HJ, the PV, the hurdles, all 3 throws, and the 1500m.

[lonewolf]

I doubt Clay has PBed for all eternity in every event but it will be hard to match or improve on all of em on any two consecutive days..
I do predict we will have a long wait to see another 27 foot decathlon LJ.

[bruce3404]

He may have maxed out his 100, LJ, 400, and 1500. His HJ seems oddly and consistently below his best. Yeah his throws can probably continue to improve with technique as they have already.

Why is he maxed out in the 1500? I agree that his potential to increase his score is much higher in the throws, but I'd still expect him to lower his 1500 PR by a couple of seconds sooner or later.

I don't at all believe he's maxed out in the 1500. A couple of examples: During his first WR in the heptathlon, he lowered his 1000 time by 5.5 seconds in order to beat the WR (a race that also featured Curtis Beach). At Daegu, in a heated battle for the silver, he lowered his PR in the 1500 by 2 seconds, which was just enough to clinch silver. And in Eugene, with a world record on the line, he chopped a further 4 seconds from his deca PR. He paced himself very well and brought home just a little more than he needed. I'm sure there's more in the tank, but we might not see it unless there's a medal position or WR in play.

[Dave]

He may have maxed out his 100, LJ, 400, and 1500. His HJ seems oddly and consistently below his best. Yeah his throws can probably continue to improve with technique as they have already.

Why is he maxed out in the 1500? I agree that his potential to increase his score is much higher in the throws, but I'd still expect him to lower his 1500 PR by a couple of seconds sooner or later.

"He may have maxed out his..." I have no idea if he has maxed those events out or not. I especially think he has room to improve in the PV.

[gibson]

eaton in the near future

10 Jav 193'-1 (721) +100
9 Disc 140'-5 (722) +100
8 SP 46'-7 (741) +100
7 HJ 6'8 (850) +50
6 1500 4:14 (850) 0
5 400 46.7 (973) +50
4 PV 17'4 (1004) 0
3 110H 13.70 (1014) +50
2 100 10.21 (1044) 0
1 LJ 27'-0 (1120) 0

9039 WR!!!!!!!!! = 9479!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!