EUGENE — Ashton Eaton knew what he had to do going into his final event to become the world-record holder in the decathlon, and he did it.
Eaton, a former University of Oregon standout from Bend, ran better than a two-second personal best in the 1,500 meters Saturday to claim the world record with a total of 9,039 points at the U.S. Olympic track and field team trials at Hayward Field.
The previous record of 9,026 was set by the Czech Republic’s Roman Seberle in Gotzis, Austria, in May 2001.
Defending world champion Trey Hardee was second with 8,383.
Eaton actually claimed three records at once. He also broke fellow Oregonian Dan O’Brien’s American (8,891 in 1992) and trials (8,726 in 1996) marks.