London: While Usain Bolt will walk away from London 2012 with the title of “the fastest man in the world”, American Ashton Eaton has proclaimed himself “the strongest man in the world” after leading an American one-two in the gruelling decathlon event here on Thursday night.
Sport | Athletics
Eaton: I am the strongest in the world
American decathlon winner a worthy rival for Bolt
- By Alaric Gomes,Senior Reporter
- Published: 14:55 August 10, 2012
- Image Credit: EPA
- Ashton Eaton of the US celebrates after winning the Decathlon competition at the Olympics on Thursday.
“He [Bolt] may be the fastest, but I am officially the strongest man in the world as this is the title given to the decathlon winner,” Eaton proclaimed after ending the ten-discipline event with a total of 8,869 points.
Teammate Trey Hardee came in second 198 points adrift, while Cuban Leonel Suarez scored enough in the penultimate javelin throw to come in third for the bronze.
Eaton holds the world record in both the decathlon and heptathlon events and is only the second decathlete after Roman Sebrle to break the 9,000-point mark, with 9,039.
In London, after two days of competition, Eaton’s body was aching but his confidence was soaring. “Yeah, it is tiring to spread out ten events over two days,” he said.
“But then this is how things are at an Olympics due to the scheduling. At the US trials for instance, the events were held over 13 hours. There is so much suspense over the two days. Sometimes one is sitting there and pretty much doing nothing.
“There is no fight here. Usain is an icon of the sport and titles are for the books and stuff like that. I do what I am doing and that shows what I am capable of on the field.”
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