American decathlete Ashton Eaton arrived in Rio as the favorite to take gold in the competition, and through five events he’s well on his way to a second consecutive Olympic gold medal in the event.
Eaton amassed 4,621 points Wednesday, giving him a 121-point lead on Germany’s Kai Kazmirek (4,500 points) through five events. Eaton, the husband of Olympic heptathlon bronze medalist Brianne Thiesen-Eaton of Canada, finished the day with a competition-best time of 46.07 seconds in the 400. That time earned the reigning champion 1,005 points, with Kazmirek getting 971 points for his time of 46.