EUGENE, Ore. (AP) — Ashton Eaton broke the world record in the decathlon Saturday, finishing with 9,039 points at the U.S. Olympic trials to beat the Roman Sebrle's 11-year-old mark by 13 points.
Eaton, the 24-year-old from Bend, Ore., needed a time of 4 minutes, 16.37 seconds in the finale, the 1,500 meters, to break the mark. He finished in 4:14.48.
Eaton opened the decathlon Friday with world-best marks for the decathlon in the 100 and long jump. He stayed in striking range of Sebrle's world record of 9,026 points throughout Day 2.
On this, the 100th anniversary of the first time the decathlon was held in the Olympics, Eaton joined Bruce Jenner, Dan O'Brien and Rafer Johnson among the Americans to hold the world record.
Trey Hardee finished second.
