Rio Olympics medal count 2016: Ashton Eaton repeats gold in decathlon

Updated 2016 Rio Olympics medal count after American Ashton Eaton won his second consecutive Olympic gold medal in the decathlon

For years, the winner of the Olympic decathlon event in track and field has been referred to as the best athlete in the world. That’s sensible considering the all-around skill required to succeed in the event. However, that means that Team USA’s Ashton Eaton has been the best athlete in the world for four years running and no one’s really all that close.

After setting the world record back in 2012 in the event, Eaton obviously came into Rio 2016 as the favorite to win the decathlon. However, repeating as a gold medalist is near unheard of because of the level you have to compete at to make it happen over the course of two days and 10 different events.

However, the pressure and the possibility of failure never fazed Ashton Eaton on the track in Rio. From the very start it was clear that he was going to be in the running for the gold medal. However, it only took a few more decathlon events for everyone to realize they were playing from behind.

On Thursday night, Eaton clinched the gold with a fantastic showing in the 1500m. All he needed was to finish within seven seconds of France’s Kevin Mayer to win gold. Like a true warrior, Eaton beat him by over two seconds.

With Eaton adding gold, yet another for the United States, here’s a look at the updated Rio Olympics medal count standings:

The United States should touch the 100-medal mark either before the end of Thursday or by Friday at least. They’ve been dominant in the medal count and aren’t stopping just now.