- Title: Decathlon gold medallist Ashton Eaton retires
- Date: 4th January 2017
- Summary: RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL (AUGUST 19, 2016) (REUTERS) DECATHLON GOLD MEDALLIST, ASHTON EATON BEING INTERVIEWED AFTER GOLD MEDAL COMPETITION EATON (SOUNDBITE) (English) DECATHLON GOLD MEDALLIST, ASHTON EATON, SAYING: "The body is broken that's for sure but my mind is good. I'm happy and satisfied and as far as what it means to me, I chose to do this and I choose to set these goals for myself so the fact that I accomplish them is, I guess you say you become proud of yourself when you say, I'm going to do this and then you do it." EATON BEING INTERVIEWED
- Embargoed: 19th January 2017 18:28
- Keywords: Ashton Eaton Brianne Theisen-Eaton
- Location: FILE
- City: FILE
- Country: USA
- Topics: Athletics,Sport
- Reuters ID: LVA0025XNZH33
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Two-time Olympic decathlon champion Ashton Eaton announced his retirement on Wednesday (January 4), saying he had given everything he could to the sport.
Brianne Theisen-Eaton, the Canadian Olympic heptathlete who is Eaton's wife, also announced her retirement.
"I give everything to the decathlon. I did all I could. Thank u for making it the best time of my life. I'm retiring," said Eaton on his Twitter account.
The 28-year-old American, who holds the world record in both the decathlon and indoor heptathlon events, won gold in the multi-event discipline at the 2012 London Olympics and successfully defended his crown at the Rio Games last August.
"Frankly there isn't much more I want to do in sport," said Eaton on his website. "I gave the most physically robust years of my life to the discovery and pursuit of my limits in this domain.
"Did I reach them? Truthfully I'm not sure anyone really does. It seems like we tend to run out of time or will before we run out of potential."
Eaton walked hand-in-hand into retirement Theisen-Eaton who also reached the medals podium in Rio, taking bronze in the heptathlon.
The Canadian was also twice a silver medallist at the world championships, finishing runner-up at the 2013 worlds in Moscow and again two years later in Beijing.
At the world indoor championships last year in Eaton's hometown of Portland, Oregon, the husband-and-wife team claimed a golden double, each topping the podium in their event.
Athletics' golden couple had hoped to repeat the feat at the Rio Olympics but Theisen-Eaton was forced to settle for third behind Belgium's Nafissatou Thiam and Britain's Jessica Ennis-Hill.
"I gave the last four years everything I could. I put my life on hold," said Theisen-Eaton, on the website she shares with her husband. "Track and field was the priority before everything else.
"But I've done it.
"I no longer have the passion for track and field or the heptathlon that I used to because I know I can't advance any further in the sport; I've given it all I can, and I refuse to come back and half-ass it because I love and respect this event and sport too much. With that, I've decided to retire. It's time to move on to my next passion, the next thing in the world I hope to make an impact in." - Copyright Holder: FILE REUTERS (CAN SELL)
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