Decathlon champ’s wife chases her own worlds medal
MOSCOW — One day after Ashton Eaton won his first world title in the decathlon, his new wife is in the running for a medal in the heptathlon.
Canadian Brianne Theisen Eaton, a native of Humboldt, Sask., who married the American Olympic decathlon champ last month, was fourth Monday after the first day of the sevendiscipline event.
“I watched Ashton win the gold, but I switched the TV off as soon as the result was announced,” said Theisen Eaton, 24, who attended the University of Oregon with her husband. “I was just trying not to get too excited and to get the needed sleep.”
The heptathlon at this year’s world championships is wide open because of the absence of Olympic champion Jessica Ennis-Hill and defending champion Tatyana Chernova. Both are out with injuries.
That gave Ganna Melnichenko of Ukraine an opening and she took it, amassing 3,912 points at Luzhniki Stadium. Dafne Schippers of the Netherlands is second with 3,837 points, American Sharon Day is third at 3,836, and Theisen Eaton is fourth with 3,810 points.
“I would have liked it to go a little bit better,” she said. “It was solid throughout, but I’m disappointed with my 200 metres.
“I got sick Saturday morning; managing that has been stressful. No excuses though, going to come out swinging (Tuesday). I was limiting my warmups to not get exhausted.”
Theisen Eaton jumped out to a quick lead after finishing the opening 100-metre hurdles with the fastest time of the day (13.17 seconds). But she soon dropped to second after the high jump and fourth after the shot put. A strong run in the 200 kept her well within striking distance of the medals.
The three remaining events (long jump, javelin and 800 metres) are set for Tuesday.