Ashton Eaton

Verified Timeline

Lore & Background

Eaton was born in Portland, Oregon, the only child of Roslyn Eaton and Terrance Wilson. His parents separated when he was two, and he moved with his mother to La Pine, Oregon, then to Bend, where he attended Mountain View High School. He was athletic from a young age, competing in football, basketball, track, soccer, and wrestling, and earned a black belt in taekwondo. In 2006, he won the Oregon state high school 400 m championship in 48.69 seconds and the long jump championship with 24 feet 0.25 inches. He chose the University of Oregon after his high school coach suggested a strong decathlon program. In college, Eaton was a five-time NCAA champion and won The Bowerman award in 2010. He broke the heptathlon world record at the 2010 NCAA Indoor Championships with a score of 6,499, and won three consecutive NCAA decathlon titles. He graduated from the University of Oregon in 2010. He competed for the Oregon Track Club Elite team based in Eugene, Oregon. Eaton won his first international medal, a silver, at the 2011 World Championships. In 2012, he broke the world record in the heptathlon at the World Indoor Championships with 6,645 points, then broke the decathlon world record at the Olympic Trials with 9,039 points. He won gold at the 2012 Summer Olympics and successfully defended his title at the 2016 Summer Olympics, tying the Olympic record. He is only the third Olympian (after Bob Mathias and Daley Thompson) to achieve back-to-back gold medals in the decathlon.

Reader's Guide

Ashton Eaton's significance lies in his dominance of the decathlon during the 2010s, becoming the second man (after Roman Šebrle) to break the 9,000-point barrier and the only one to do so twice. His world record of 9,045 points, set on August 29, 2015, stood until broken by Kevin Mayer on September 16, 2018, with 9,126 points. Eaton's back-to-back Olympic gold medals place him in an elite group with Bob Mathias and Daley Thompson. His collegiate career at the University of Oregon, where he won five NCAA titles and The Bowerman in 2010, established him as a prodigious talent. Eaton's ability to excel across all ten events, particularly his speed in the 100 m (10.21 at the 2012 Trials) and 400 m (46.70 in pouring rain), and his long jump of 8.23 m at the same Trials, made him a versatile and formidable competitor. His legacy includes raising the standard for decathlon performance and inspiring future combined-events athletes.

Did You Know?

• Eaton is the only decathlete to exceed 9,000 points twice, with scores of 9,039 and 9,045.
• He broke the indoor heptathlon world record twice: first with 6,499 points in 2010, then with 6,645 points at the 2012 World Indoor Championships.
• At the 2012 Olympic Trials, Eaton opened the decathlon with a 100 m of 10.21 and a long jump of 8.23 m, both world decathlon bests for a full decathlon.
• Eaton is only the third Olympian (after Bob Mathias and Daley Thompson) to win back-to-back decathlon gold medals.
• In high school, Eaton won the Oregon state 400 m championship in 48.69 seconds and the long jump championship with 24 feet 0.25 inches.