United States' Trey Hardee reacts after competing in a 110-meter hurdles heat in the decathlon during the athletics in the Olympic Stadium at the 2012 Summer Olympics, London, Thursday, Aug. 9, 2012. (AP Photo/Anja Niedringhaus)…
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Updated: Thursday, 09 Aug 2012, 4:15 PM CDT
Published : Thursday, 09 Aug 2012, 10:02 AM CDT
LONDON (AP) — Ashton Eaton won the Olympic decathlon gold medal by 198 points on Thursday night.
Eaton set the decathlon world record at the U.S. trials in June and backed it up with an Olympic victory with 8,869 points.
Two-time world champion Trey Hardee settled for silver with 8,671 points and Leonel Suarez of Cuba took the bronze, 346 points behind Eaton, at 8,523.
Eaton had a 151-point lead going into the final event, the 1,500 meters, and is a better middle-distance runner than Hardee. But there were still some nerves in the field, with a rare false start in the 1,500.
Eaton needed to slash six seconds off his fastest ever time in the 1,500 to break his world record, but ran a cautious race and finished well outside his personal best in 4 minutes, 33.59 seconds.
This has been the first American 1-2 finish in the decathlon since Milton Gray Campbell and Rafer Johnson in 1956.
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