A biography for Ashton Eatonhasn’t been written yet.
“The opportunity to represent your country at the Olympic Games is earned, not given.”
“After asking questions about current recovery techniques, the conversation prompted me to ask myself, 'Why does it feel good after running to pour a bottle of water over your head?' I don't know the physiological answer, but the fact that it does feel better makes me perform better.”
“You try to figure out the best way to throw the shot put, or the perfect way to long jump, and you don't ever get it. You just chip away, chip away, chip away as time goes on.”
“When I see my mom in the stands, it always pushes me to succeed.”
“We all understand that this isn't about me beating you and you beating me. It's about each individual competing against himself.”
“The strong ones are the ones who realize that having a bad training day, those types of days are necessary.”
“I haven't played a full round of golf yet, but I did make two pars my first time out on a golf course.”
“What you do is you're using the other competitors to push yourself, because it's so hard to push yourself.”
“If I have to run to put myself in the hospital, if I have to run that hard, that's how hard I'll have to run.”
“My biggest competitor? Myself, mentally.”
“My goal in Korea is to win. There's no timetable when to set the American record.”
“To be with the other two-time gold medalists is great, but it's great to just be a decathlete.”
“I don't set goals. Competing with a number in your head can be limiting, and I don't know what my capabilities are yet.”
“I compete against myself in competitions anyway, so I train against myself in practice.”
“In our marriage, the success of our athletic dreams comes before everything. 'Hey do you want to watch a movie?' 'No, I have a hard workout tomorrow.'”
“The world record is like you we went to the theater to see this movie, and it was really good, and it had an unexpected ending, and you left the theater saying, 'Wow, that was such a great movie.'”
“I think a challenge for myself is to see how many times I can get above 9,000. That would be a good challenge.”
“As athletes, we love to say, 'Just one more; I'm going to figure it out on this next one.' It's tough to pull back the reins and do what is smart physically, listening to your body and always ending a workout or session feeling like I could have done more.”
“Even though decathlon is really long, there's always something different to look forward to, which is great for mental stimulation.”
“I want to see where I measure up against everyone in the world and everyone who has ever competed in the sport, and there's that innate sense of wanting to challenge myself. I'm competitive in all aspects.”