PORTLAND — Everything Ashton Eaton does is “authentic, real and true,” said Vin Lananna, his former coach at the University of Oregon, suggesting that one can accept on face value the subtle sense of disappointment on Eaton’s face following his record-setting third world indoor championship in the heptathlon.
It was a good performance — a great one, even: Eaton finished Saturday night with 6,470 points, besting the second-place finisher, Oleksiy Kasyanov of Ukraine, by 288 points. The 6,470 points are the fourth-most in World Indoor Championship history; only fellow American Dan O’Brien and Eaton himself have surpassed 6,450 points in indoor competition.