Ashton Eaton in the decathlon long jump at the IAAF World Championships, Beijing 2015 (© Getty Images)
Ashton Eaton leads the decathlon comfortably after two events, having scored 2070. The 27-year-old leapt to 7.88m in the long jump on his first attempt with none of the drama that came in the heptathlon long jump.
The US all-rounder is off to a fine start, already 67 points ahead of his 8809 winning series in Moscow. If he continues to register solid marks in the other events, no one will be able to catch him.
For world leader Trey Hardee, the competition took a turn for the worse in the long jump. The 31-year-old jumped 7.30m, losing a few points there, but that wasn’t the only problem. After his last jump, which was a clear foul, he was holding his side walking out of the pit with what looked like an injury. The double world champion is in ninth place after two events with 1847.
Pan American Games champion Damian Warner also succeeded with his first jump. The Canadian hit a 7.65m first jump, a personal best, and is in second place after two events, having scored 1992. Brazilian Felipe dos Santos is third with 1913 points and a 7.54m leap in the second event, but he will go down the rankings soon.
German Rico Freimuth is just three points behind him in fourth place with 1910 points. The 27-year-old jumped 7.51m, just three centimetres off his season’s best. Team-mate Michael Schrader is in fifth with 1897 points; he was the second-best long jumper in the field with 7.71m.
Dutchman Eelco Sintnicolaas jumped 7.50m and is in sixth with 1882, just five points in front of Ukraine’s Oleksiy Kasyanov. The 30-year-old jumped 7.58m for 1877 points and seventh place at the moment.
Russia’s Ilya Shkurenev and Germany’s Kai Kazmirek are in 12th and 13th respectively, both with 1793 points.
Mirko Jalava for the IAAF
