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

[kuha]

Major props to Beach and Dettmer for letting him cross the line first

I loved this. Beach, in particular, was a 100% fan in that last 50m.It says a lot about the camaraderie of these guys--very, very classy.

[LTS]

Just wondering.

1. Last Dec WR set on US soil?

2. Last Dec WR set on US soil by an American?

3. Number of WR's set in Eugene?

[tm71]

This is what's great about thespider. I am glad that uncle Tom didn't overhype it and that NBC stayed 30 mins beyond the window to show the reaction and the other two finals !

[Grasshopper]

Just wondering.

1. Last Dec WR set on US soil?

2. Last Dec WR set on US soil by an American?

3. Number of WR's set in Eugene?

Did Daley Thompson set a WR in Los Angeles '84?

[jeremyp]

What an exciting run. I had prepped my wife for what needed to be done, knowing that the NBC guys wouldn't (and with that god awfual woman interviewing two great decathletes and not bringing in Eaton's upcoming oddyssey was crass) and we egged him on as if it was the OT 1500 final. At th bell I thought he could not possibly do it and then that last 400. So many, too many, times did we watch O'Brien back off a WR by not attacking a 1500, and to know this guy was putting it all out there is so gratifying. And we all know he has 200 more points in him.

He now has a smaller differential between PB's and score than Sebrle. 293 I think.
Rest up Ashton and we'll see you in London, where the weather will probably look familiar.

[Grasshopper]

From a post by "Rojo" (the LetsRun founder) regarding Clay:

"PPS. I just got out of the Clay press conference and he said something along the lines of "I may go after the 'A' - I didn't know that might be possibility until right before I walked in here.'

So there you have it. We aren't the only one's thinking this.

His coach indicated he may go for it as well."

So maybe (hopefully) Clay might have a chance, however slight, to still get on the team. Fingers crossed!

[tm71]

Not so sure about last American to set deca WR on us soil, buy this was the first WR by an American on us soil live in so called prime time in the east coast since MJ in 96.

[highjumpfan]

On the front-page of FoxNews.com right now (okay, please look past the fact that it's Fox News and resist the urge to bash me for it):

"OREGON MAN BREAKS WORLD RECORD IN DECATHLON - Ashton Eaton, 24, sets world record in the decathlon at U.S. Olympic trials, beating 11-year-old mark by 13 points"

I can't remember the last time I saw anything track-related on the front-page of a major news site.

...on the front-page of MSNBC.com, too (which makes sense, of course, since NBC is the official Olympic Trials broadcaster).

Of course, I can't find ANY mention of it on the ESPN.com website yet .

Was just "covered" on sportscenter. 1 vault, and his lj with a mention of the wr and Dan obrien and Bruce Jenner.

[j-a-m]

Beach, in particular, was a 100% fan in that last 50m.It says a lot about the camaraderie of these guys--very, very classy.

Agreed, great show of sportsmanship by Beach.

[gibson]

How close can Eaton get to the "all scoring tables" WR of 9206, C.K. Yang, 1963 ?

look at the scores.
eaton did the impossible.
conditions probably accounted for what? a 200 plus points drop off the average PR?
with continuing improvement in the throws, you know eaton is at least 200 points better.

[gh]

From a post by "Rojo" (the LetsRun founder) regarding Clay:

"PPS. I just got out of the Clay press conference and he said something along the lines of "I may go after the 'A' - I didn't know that might be possibility until right before I walked in here.'

So there you have it. We aren't the only one's thinking this.

His coach indicated he may go for it as well."

So maybe (hopefully) Clay might have a chance, however slight, to still get on the team. Fingers crossed!

Methinks somebody fed clay bad dope. Which is sad

[j-a-m]

with continuing improvement in the throws, you know eaton is at least 200 points better.

Yeah, we probably just witnessed Eaton's FIRST WR. And that makes it only more epic, if anything.

[dbirds]

No reason clay shouldn't be allowed until
Olympic deadline to get A standard - he wouldn't be taking anyone's spot!

[olorin]

I abandoned the message board to watch on TV without a computer in front of me . . . .

Thanks to all for your contributions. There are many unique contributors to this thread - I appreciate every one of you.

London, here we come on Aug 8 and 9!

Aren't you going to join us for the Heptathlon in the OT? I know there is no Eaton there (and you chose the nickname DecFan and not HepFan) but who else beside you will care about the chances of the athlete in fifth place to set a new PB.

[bruce3404]

Just got back from Hayward. OMG, the crowd reaction was astonishing as we screamed throughout the entire 1500. Then, while everyone was still dancing and celebrating, NBC did what they could to suck the life out of the moment by doing an on-field interview which was not sent out over the PA. So there was about 3 minutes of silence while the other athletes stood on the side and waited for the traditional victory lap. And then to see Ashton receive plaudits from Jenner, Johnson, O'Brien et al while running his victory lap was really something. The legend of the 800M final in 2008 has been surpassed.

[bruce3404]

No reason clay shouldn't be allowed until
Olympic deadline to get A standard - he wouldn't be taking anyone's spot!

What, he should compete in another decathlon in the next few weeks and then two weeks later compete in London? Bottom line is that he's currently physically incapable and really gutted it out to finish this one.

[olorin]

No reason clay shouldn't be allowed until
Olympic deadline to get A standard - he wouldn't be taking anyone's spot!

But then any other athletes that did not get the "A" after the trials will be allowed to chase the standard. I would love to see Clay compete in London but I do not think that they will break there own rules just so one (great) athlete can compete.
Maybe next time they will change the rules so an athlete can chase the "A" as long as it is not instead of another athlete.

[dbirds]

They should allow all events that don't have 3 qualifiers to chase standard. If more than one make it then higher Ot finisher gets in!

[dbirds]

I just tweeted every person that I follow on Espn.com complaining that ashton eaton story not on headlines - Espn is bias vs sports they don't cover #bs!!

[lonewolf]

No reason clay shouldn't be allowed until
Olympic deadline to get A standard - he wouldn't be taking anyone's spot!

Other than that the Q time has long been established, there is a reason decathletes only do two/three/four a year.. they have to recharge. If Clay miraculously eaked out an 8200 between now and August, he would have no chance in London.

[Bruce Kritzler]

Looks like Detmer gave up 3rd place overall, by letting Eaton beat him in the 1500.

[olorin]

Just wondering.

1. Last Dec WR set on US soil?

2. Last Dec WR set on US soil by an American?

3. Number of WR's set in Eugene?

1. Daily Thompson 8798 In the LA Olympic 1984

2. Bruce Jenner 8538 in the OT in 1976

3. Have no idea

[lonewolf]

Looks like Detmer gave up 3rd place overall, by letting Eaton beat him in the 1500.

Ouch! That is being too nice..

[Grasshopper]

What, he should compete in another decathlon in the next few weeks and then two weeks later compete in London? Bottom line is that he's currently physically incapable and really gutted it out to finish this one.

I think it's a stretch to say he's currently physically incapable. He was still in good shape after day-1, despite the poor HJ (which was undoubtedly affected by the weather) and the horrendous 400m. He was neck-and-neck with Eaton (who ran 13.70) in the 110's before his fall into hurdle #10. After that, I think it's hard to reach much into his performances in the final 4 events (he was still unaware of his reinstatement in the hurdles during his discus).

[j-a-m]

Number of WR's set in Eugene?

Four: Rafer Johnson, Bruce Jenner (twice), Ashton Eaton.

[bruce3404]

I think it's a stretch to say he's currently physically incapable. He was still in good shape after day-1, despite the poor HJ (which was undoubtedly affected by the weather) and the horrendous 400m. He was neck-and-neck with Eaton (who ran 13.70) in the 110's before his fall into hurdle #10. After that, I think it's hard to reach much into his performances in the final 4 events (he was still unaware of his reinstatement in the hurdles during his discus).

I was there and he was limping around something awful between attempts. Perhaps that will show up on the TV replays.

[toyracer]

Fantastic. Simply, fantastic. I just loved what Beach did, and his reaction to seeing the time Eaton had just run.

http://global.fncstatic.com/static/Decathlon.jpg

[Grasshopper]

Here's Clay's post-deca interview from FloTrack: "http://www.flotrack.org/coverage/248612-2012-US-Olympic-Team-Trials-Track-Field/video/643632-Bryan-Claye-after-Dec-at-2012-Olympic-Trials"

Sounds like he's not planning on retirement just yet .

[79.]

Merci, merci Ashton for these moments of anthology !!!
A statue for EATON in the fabulous history of track and field.

[Grasshopper]

Eaton moves to #4 on the all-time list for Decathlon totals based on personal bests (9348 pts), behind Clay (9350), Michael Smith (9362), and Dan O'Brien (9572 ).

[bman]

Hold the phone Clay says in that flotrack interview that his coach told him after the meet that he could still make the A standard and make the team.

[lonewolf]

So, whadda we know?

[Grasshopper]

Hold the phone Clay says in that flotrack interview that his coach told him after the meet that he could still make the A standard and make the team.

That's what I heard and hope, too (see my post a little way above), but GH seems to think Clay's been misinformed and it's misguided hope. I just don't see the benefit to ANYONE from leaving a spot open on the team if/when someone potentially could fill it.

[Marlow]

Didn't see Beamon's 8.90, but thought it the ultimate athletic performance (UAP).

DID see MJ's 19.32 and IT was the UAP.

Didn't see Bolt's WRs and thought they were the UAPs

DID see AE's 9039 and now think IT is the AUP - mostly because of the cruddy weather conditions.

Who sprints 10.21, LJs 27', PVs 5.30 and THEN runs the equivalent of a 4:34 Mile?!

He is now the world's greatest athlete amd that was his greatest performance, so the rest of the posers can just go home now!!!!!

[lonewolf]

I second the motion.