Ashton Eaton wins the heptathlon 60m at the IAAF World Indoor Championships Portland 2016 (© Getty Images)
While it wasn’t exactly a sluggish start from Ashton Eaton, it was certainly a cautious one.
The American world record holder was unsurprisingly the fastest of the field in the first event of the men’s heptathon, winning the 60m in 6.81 seconds, but Eaton walked off the track knowing he had much more in the tank.
The reigning champion was well down on chief rival Oleksiy Kasyanov as they flew from the blocks, but midway through the race he kicked it into top gear and came steaming past the Ukrainian to take the win and net 951 points. Two years ago in Sopot, Poland, Eaton opened with a personal best of 6.66 in the 60m, so will be keen to get back on track with a stronger performance in this afternoon’s long jump.
Back in second, Kasyanov recorded a season’s best of 6.86 – his fastest time in six years – to put himself in silver medal place at this early stage, while Portugal’s Samuel Remedios was next best, his time of 6.93 netting him 907 points.
Grenada’s Kurt Felix ran a personal best of 7.00 to put himself in fourth with 882 points, while US champion Curtis Beach was close to his personal best (7.01) with a run of 7.04. German youngster Tim Nowak recorded a season’s best of 7.18 to net 819 points.
Cathal Dennehy for the IAAF
