RIO DE JANEIRO — “The world’s greatest athlete,” the moniker typically bestowed on the Olympic decathlon champion, is Ashton Eaton of the USA.
He will begin the quest to keep that title beginning Wednesday at Olympic Stadium.
Eaton is the two-time defending world champion, the reigning Olympic champion and the world leader in 2016.
But lots can happen in the decathlon, which is part of the reason only two others have ever successfully defended their Olympic title in the event, the USA’s Bob Mathias (1948, ’52) and Britain’s Daley Thompson (’80, ’84). They also are the only two-time winners.