Ashton Eaton Biography

Ashton Eaton is an American two-time Olympic champion who holds the world record in both the decathlon and indoor heptathlon events. He is just the second decathlete (after Roman Šebrle) to break the 9,000-point barrier, with 9,039 points. A highly successful athlete, he won the gold medal in decathlon at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, and defended his Olympic title in Rio in 2016 by winning the decathlon gold medal once again. Interested in athletics from a young age, Eaton began professionally competing in the decathlon and heptathlon in 2008. While he made it to the U.S. Olympic trials in 2008, he failed to make it to the Games after finishing fifth. But he trained really hard over the ensuing months to win the heptathlon at the NCAA Championships in 2009 and 2010. Eventually he made his Olympic debut at the Summer Games in London in 2012 and won the gold medal in decathlon. He proceeded to win other international championships over the ensuing years and the second Olympic gold medal of his career at the Olympic Games in Rio in 2016. With this feat he joined US Olympian Bob Mathias and Daley Thompson of Great Britain as the only men to have won two Olympic gold medals in the decathlon.