Eaton on course for decathlon gold

Ashton Eaton of the United States remained on course for gold in the Olympic decathlon on Thursday, with just two events to go in the gruelling campaign. The world record holder scored an overnight total of 4,661 points, after three dominant displays in three of the first five events, 220pts more than US teammate and world champion Trey Hardee (4,441) with Canada's Damian Warner in third on 4,386. The 24-year-old Eaton had bagged a total of 7,381 pts after the first three events of the second day's action at a packed Olympic Stadium. He was beaten by two-hundredths of a second to the leading time in the 110m hurdles by Hardee, who clocked a very respectable 13.54sec. Hardee maintained the pressure with a best of 48.26m in the discus, which netted him 834pts. Eaton, however, could manage only 42.53m for 716pts. In the pole vault, Eaton cleared 5.20 metres, with Hardee going over at 4.80m, leaving Eaton with a 222-point lead with just the javelin and 1500m remaining in the evening session. Germany's Rico Freimuth stood in third place after eight events, with a total of 6,927 points.