Ashton Eaton has defended his Olympic decathlon title, equaling the games record with a surge on the last lap of the 1,500 meters – the last event in the two-day competition.

The 28-year-old American finished with 8,893 points to match the Olympic mark set by Roman Sebrle of the Czech Republic in 2004.

Kevin Mayer of France was 59 points behind to take silver and Damian Warner of Canada took bronze with 8,666 points.