Eaton runs, jumps and vaults himself into the Record Books

Coming into the final event of the day in the men’s decathlon World-Record holder Ashton Eaton, the 1500m Eaton knew he would have to stay within seven seconds of current second placer Kevin Mayer of France. Eaton would do more than enough to dispatch Mayer as he ran a 4:23 to place fifth in the 1500m and tie his Olympic Record.

Upon crossing the line Eaton burst into tears as the emotional weight of the past week hit him. On Tuesday, Eaton played Mr. Thiesen as he donned a Canadian hat to support his wife, Brianne Thiesen-Eaton who would place third in the Women’s Heptathlon. Eaton went under fire for the acts which were considered by some a betrayal of his allegiance to the United States. Eaton clearly validated his clear nationalism with his record breaking performance today.