EATON DEFINES WHAT’S NEXT

The Rio Games marked the apex of Ashton Eaton’s athletic career. In Rio, the track and field star claimed his second decathlon gold, cementing his place in the sport’s annals, as he was the third man in Olympic history to repeat as champion in the demanding event.

And then he retired. Shortly after the conclusion of the Games, Eaton and his wife, Canadian heptathlete Brianne Theisen-Eaton, began reaching out to friends and colleagues in the sport for advice: What’s next?

They were told it would be difficult. You’ll miss the competition, the couple heard.

But Eaton hasn’t missed the competition; if anything, he has missed the competitors and, as his wife said this spring, “the community” of track and field.

Eaton, 29, has found different avenues to pursue in the early stages of his retirement.

Eaton and Theisen-Eaton got a dog. They discussed moving from their longtime home base of Eugene, Ore., to the Bay Area. In May, Eaton appeared on NBC’s

American Ninja Warrior, where he had little difficulty navigating through a challenging obstacle course.

He has devoted his name to causes, including partnerships with the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society and World Vision, a global humanitarian organization.

In retirement, as during his athletic career, Eaton has found himself in search of another challenge. So what’s next for the greatest decathlete in the world?

“I think the key is setting really clear goals,” Eaton said during an interview in April. “The simple thing is track as the goal was very easy; it was just, ‘Win these meets.’

“In life you just have to pick your own. And when you accomplish it, I think you set another one. So there’s not an end. I don’t think there ever should really be an end. But defining that is probably the hardest part at first.”