Stage all set for Trey Hardee at Worlds after gold-medalist Eaton’s retirement
LONDON—Trey Hardee wants to set the record straight: No, he's not retired. Never has been. The thought really never crossed his mind.
The two-time world champion decathlete understands why everyone may have jumped to that conclusion. He's 33, has been sidelined by an assortment of injuries and did some broadcasting work for the Rio de Janeiro Olympics.
On top of that, his Wikipedia page actually listed him as retired.
"I still really love what I do," he said. With world-record holder and twotime Olympic gold medalist Ashton Eaton surprisingly announcing his retirement in January, the stage now belongs to the "other" American who, in virtually any other era, wouldn't have been relegated to such status. Once the top rival of Eaton, Hardee could take his spot atop the medal stand at the world championships in London.
"I consider myself the bread in the Ashton sandwich," Hardee joked about being around before Eaton's arrival and still around now. "When we were (competing), we were always like, 'Let's finish 1-2.' Neither of us cared. We were like, 'Let's dominate this event and represent the United States, make sure we show what the American decathlon stands for.'"
For years, it was the Eaton and Hardee Show in a 10-event competition spread over two days. At the 2012 London Games, Eaton took gold while Hardee grabbed silver. That despite Hardee having surgery on his throwing elbow a few months before the Olympics.
Asked when he might step aside for real, Hardee just laughed.
"If I do retire, it will be a pretty quiet and an uneventful affair," said Hardee, who dabbles in real estate on the side. "They'll be like, 'Did Trey retire?'
"But I still go to bed every night thinking about the decathlon and I wake up each morning ready to practice."