With strong performances on the 110m hurdles and discus throw, two American athletes have the top two slots with three events left in the men's decathlon.
Trey Hardee had the fastest heat of any competitor on the hurdles and the third longest throw on the discus, keeping him in second place, while Ashton Eaton held on to the top spot with the second-fastest hurdles heat, despite a poor showing on the discus.
Hardee ran the hurdles at a personal best 13.54, closely followed by Eaton at 13.56. Only one other competitor, Rico Freimuth of Germany, cracked the 14-second mark. Freimuth would have the longest throw in the discus, 49.11 meters, as well, placing him in fifth overall for the competition. Eaton's toss in the discus was one of the worst in the field at 42.53 meters, allowing Freimuth to gain 136 points on his lead, but Eaton will still need to falter later for the poor showing to matter much as he still has a sizable lead.
The top of the standings with three events to go:
- Ashton Eaton, USA, 6409
- Trey Hardee, USA, 6310
- Oleksiy Kasyanov, Ukraine, 6111
- Damian Warner, Canada, 6097
- Rico Freimuth, Germany, 6047
The pole vault, javelin throw, and 1500m run are later today, wrapping up the competition.
For more on the Olympics, check out SB Nation's London 2012 Olympics Hub.
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