Ashton Eaton on top in Rio, holds early decathlon lead

Eaton immediately regained the lead with a mark of 7.94 meters in long jump, 27 centimeters more Warner. Kemboi also won four world titles.

BMX cycling will also get underway Wednesday, with all eyes on Maris Strombergs of Latvia, the only man to win gold in the event since BMX was added to the Olympics in 2008.

According to a story from The New Yorker published yesterday, Tate Metcalf, Eaton’s high school coach, saw potential in his young athlete and believed Eaton’s best path to a Division I college was through the decathlon. That alliance clearly did not apply to Warner, who finished fifth at the 2012 London Games. This isn’t that kind of competition, and when Warner asked for the crowd to clap on his jumps, Eaton joined in. Kai Kazmirek of Germany set a personal best with 7.69 metres, increasing his chances of a medal.

Warner’s shot put – never his best event – was well short of what he hoped to deliver and that left him 95 points back with yet more ground to make up in other events.

In the discus, he had a throw of 44.93 metres on his third attempt. Only two other men had throws of over 15 feet: Bastien Auzeil of France at 15.41 metres and Adam Sebastian Helcelet at 15.11 metres. In third place, Canada’s Damian Warner with 4,489.

It wasn’t until the high jump that Eaton showed any weakness, missing his opening jumps at 1.98 metres, twice at 2.01 and failing to clear 2.04.

In men’s shot put, Tim Nedow of Brockville, Ont., finished 16th in qualifying and did not advance.

Dafne Schippers of the Netherlands and Tori Bowie of the USA, the silver medalist in the 100 meters at Rio, are aiming for a showdown Wednesday in the women’s 200 meters. That dropped Warner to third overall. Mayer’s dream continued, another personal best, this one at 48.38, nearly four-tenths lower than his prior personal best.

The 28-year-old American superstar leads the field with 4,621 points after Day 1 of the competition in Rio.