Ashton Eaton wins decathlon at World Track and Field Championships

Ashton Eaton
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Ashton Eaton followed up his world record and Olympic title in the decathlon in 2012 with his first world championship on Sunday.

Eaton’s point total, 8,809, was well off the world record of 9,039 set at the 2012 U.S. Olympic Trials, but he won with ease and entered the meet predicting he would score 8,800 points without too much effort.

The year after the Olympics can be draining for any track and field athlete, especially decathletes. Eaton is the first reigning Olympic decathlon champion to win the world championship the year following the Games.

German Michael Schrader took the silver with 8,670 points, and Canadian Damian Warner stepped up for bronze with 8,512.

Eaton, 25, took a nine-point lead over U.S. teammate Gunnar Nixon into the second day of the 10-event competition and extended it with a 13.92 clocking in the 110-meter hurdles on Sunday morning.

Next came the discus, where German Michael Schrader passed Nixon to move into silver medal position and held it through the pole vault and javelin. Eaton was never challenged, taking a 168-point lead into the final event, the 1,500 meters.

Nixon, 20, the world junior champion in 2012, kept falling and finished in 13th place. The two-time defending world champion, American Trey Hardee, withdrew with a hamstring injury Saturday. Eaton took silver to Hardee at the 2011 World Championships in Daegu, South Korea.

Eaton will stay in Moscow to watch his American teammates and his wife, Canadian heptathlete Brianne Theisen, who is a medal threat in the seven-event competition Monday and Tuesday.

Brittney Reese wins historic world title in long jump

2023 French Open women’s singles draw, scores

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At the French Open, Iga Swiatek of Poland eyes a third title at Roland Garros and a fourth Grand Slam singles crown overall.

The tournament airs live on NBC Sports, Peacock and Tennis Channel through championship points in Paris.

Swiatek, the No. 1 seed from Poland, can join Serena Williams and Justine Henin as the lone women to win three or more French Opens since 2000.

Having turned 22 on Wednesday, she can become the youngest woman to win three French Opens since Monica Seles in 1992 and the youngest woman to win four Slams overall since Williams in 2002.

FRENCH OPEN: Broadcast Schedule | Men’s Draw

But Swiatek is not as dominant as in 2022, when she went 16-0 in the spring clay season during an overall 37-match win streak.

She retired from her last pre-French Open match with a right thigh injury and said it wasn’t serious. Before that, she lost the final of another clay-court tournament to Australian Open champion Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus.

Sabalenka, the No. 2 seed, is her top remaining challenger in Paris.

No. 3 Jessica Pegula, the highest-seeded American man or woman, was eliminated in the third round. No. 4 Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan, who has three wins over Swiatek this year, withdrew before her third-round match due to illness.

No. 6 Coco Gauff, runner-up to Swiatek last year, is the top hope to become the first American to win a Grand Slam singles title since Sofia Kenin at the 2020 Australian Open. The 11-major drought is the longest for U.S. women since Seles won the 1996 Australian Open.

MORE: All you need to know for 2023 French Open

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2023 French Open Women’s Singles Draw

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2023 French Open men’s singles draw, scores

French Open Men's Draw
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The French Open men’s singles draw is missing injured 14-time champion Rafael Nadal for the first time since 2004, leaving the Coupe des Mousquetaires ripe for the taking.

The tournament airs live on NBC Sports, Peacock and Tennis Channel through championship points in Paris.

Novak Djokovic is not only bidding for a third crown at Roland Garros, but also to lift a 23rd Grand Slam singles trophy to break his tie with Nadal for the most in men’s history.

FRENCH OPEN: Broadcast Schedule | Women’s Draw

But the No. 1 seed is Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz, who won last year’s U.S. Open to become, at 19, the youngest man to win a major since Nadal’s first French Open title in 2005.

Now Alcaraz looks to become the second-youngest man to win at Roland Garros since 1989, after Nadal of course.

Alcaraz missed the Australian Open in January due to a right leg injury, but since went 30-3 with four titles. Notably, he has not faced Djokovic this year. They could meet in the semifinals.

Russian Daniil Medvedev, the No. 2 seed, was upset in the first round by 172nd-ranked Brazilian qualifier Thiago Seyboth Wild. It marked the first time a men’s top-two seed lost in the first round of any major since 2003 Wimbledon (Ivo Karlovic d. Lleyton Hewitt).

All of the American men lost before the fourth round. The last U.S. man to make the French Open quarterfinals was Andre Agassi in 2003.

MORE: All you need to know for 2023 French Open

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2023 French Open Men’s Singles Draw

French Open Men's Singles Draw French Open Men's Singles Draw French Open Men's Singles Draw French Open Men's Singles Draw