NE Runner dev site
INDIANAPOLIS
ÛÒ Former University of Oregon great Ashton Eaton bettered his own
indoor heptathlon world record with an amazing two-day performance that
concluded Sunday in Tallinn, Estonia.
Eaton,
who last week defeated reigning Olympic decathlon champion Bryan Clay
and 2009 World decathlon champion Trey Hardee at the Millrose Multi Challenge at the 104th Millrose Games in New York, rode that momentum to a world record Sunday in the indoor heptathlon of 6,568 points. EatonÛªs
performance easily bettered his previous world record of 6,499 points
set at last yearÛªs NCAA Indoor Championships, March 12-13, 2010, in
Fayetteville, Ark.
Eaton
began the competition Saturday by running a personal best 6.66 seconds
in the 60 meters, which gave him an opening tally of 1,007 points. The next event was the long jump, where Eaton soared to 7.77 meters/25 feet 6 inches, which gave him 1,002 points.
The
third event was the shot put, which was key for Eaton, who posted a
personal best distance of 14.45m/47 feet 5 inches, which was worth 756
points. Day 1 concluded with Eaton clearing 2.01m/6-7 in
the high jump, which gave him a first day total of 3,578 points, which
was a 17-point improvement over his world record setting effort in 2010.
Day
2 began with a stellar effort in the 60m hurdles, which saw Eaton set a
combined events indoor world record of 7.60 seconds, which added 1,085
points to his total.
Eaton
matched his personal best when he cleared 5.20m/17-0.75 in the pole
vault for 972 points before concluding his world record effort with his
right fist raised over the final 30 meters of the 1,000m run that he
completed in 2:34.74 (933 points).
Eaton quotes:
“I’m
so happy! I had a great day. I think this was a great experience. I am
most proud of the way I competed, after some bad events I was able to
come back and perform well today. I made some bars in the pole vault on
third attempt when I really needed them. I also think this shows that I
have a lot of room to improve.
ÛÏI
had a bad high jump, I took off way behind the board in the long jump,
I could have run better in the 1,000m, and although the shot put was a
big personal best, I know I can keep getting better.
ÛÏThese
fans here in Estonia are great. They have such a great tradition of
decathletes and really support the event. Ever since I stepped off the
plane I liked this place. I felt like the crowd was really behind me
the whole way, they were pushing for me and I think that is why I did
so well. I did not want to disappoint my new fans. Nothing quite
compares to my home crowd in Eugene, but Tallinn was a close second.
Now it’s time to go home and get some rest before we start our
preparations for outdoors. First I need to make the U.S.
team, then it’s onto Daegu where I hope to make the medal stand and
hopefully be on top.”
For more information on USA Track & Field, visit: www.usatf.org
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