story out here, Muhammad said of the U.S. teams gold rush.The crowd at a near-full Olympic Stadium was constantly reminded o

RIO DE JANEIRO -- Ashton Eaton retained his title as the best all-around athlete in the world by tying the decathlon Olympic record and, within minutes, had stepped back for track and fields ultimate superstar to take center stage again.What more could the now two-time Olympic champion Eaton do Thursday night to get just a little sliver of the limelight that beams down so brightly on Usain Bolt?Not much.I had the pleasure of being in the same era as Usain Bolt, Eaton said. I mean, the guys last name is Bolt, hes the fastest man ever, you cant write a story like that.You can try.For his own tale, Eaton made it back-to-back Olympic and world titles in the decathlon, an event the American has ruled since he rebounded from silver at the worlds in 2011 to claim the next four major gold medals available. From throwing, to jumping, to running, Eaton can do it all.But then Bolt -- a Jamaican who just deals in speed -- roared around the bend at the Olympic Stadium to win the 200 meters in 19.78 seconds, completing act two of his three-part quest for gold and history in Rio.Maybe there was some comfort for Eaton -- and loads of other athletes looking to be the one to shine -- with Bolts suggestion afterward that hes nearly done.On the straight, my body didnt respond. Im getting old, said Bolt, who was trying to break his own world record of 19.19.Fridays 4x100-meter relay final is all thats left now between Bolt and an historic three golds at three straight Olympics. Concentrating on not messing that up for Bolt, a Jamaica team led by Asafa Powell got into the final in a pretty important moment for the big mans legacy. They only finished second in their heat behind Japan, but Jamaicas in.There was some pressure to make it to the finals, Powell said, relieved he didnt have to deliver any bad news as Bolt prepared for the 200 final.Wednesday produced an awesome hour for the U.S. track team, according to Tianna Bartoletta. By Thursday night, that had evolved into a pretty great 24 hours.Alongside Eatons triumph, Ryan Crouser led an American one-two in the shot put, also setting a new Olympic record of 22.52 meters to win his first major title from world champion Joe Kovacs.Dalilah Muhammad kept the U.S. total ticking on with gold in the womens 400-meter hurdles and Ashley Spencer added a bronze, with another American 1-2 only just thwarted by Denmarks Sara Slott Petersen. Kerron Clement later won his first individual Olympic gold in the 400-meter hurdles.We are making history out here, Muhammad said of the U.S. teams gold rush.The crowd at a near-full Olympic Stadium was constantly reminded of that with a series of medal ceremonies through the day, most of them starting with: Oh, say can you see...With three days remaining, the United States was up to 24 medals in track and field, eight of them gold. The U.S. won 29 medals, including nine golds, in London.For a few short moments, the U.S. womens 4x100 relay team was a little like Bolt: They were the only ones everyone was looking at.Leading off, Bartoletta nestled into the starting blocks in lane 2 for the teams re-run -- all on their own and against the clock only -- after they fumbled the baton in their original qualifier. The second chance came after a U.S. protest. With just that clock and the crowd for company, the Americans took the baton around in 41.77 seconds to reach the final.Our coach said before we went out there, `Its just like practice, just the whole world will be watching, said English Gardner, who ran the third leg.Eaton finished with 8,893 points, digging deep through the final lap of the last event, the 1,500 meters, to cross the line third, incredibly matching exactly the Olympic record after 10 events over two days.How cant there be one stinking point in there somewhere? Eaton said.Eaton had briefly darted away from the decathlon to congratulate Clement as his teammate knelt exhausted in the midday sun after winning the hurdles, an indicator of the feel-good surging through the U.S. track team right now.Croatias Sara Kolak won the womens javelin, another first-time Olympic champion like Crouser.And South Africas Caster Semenya, the outright favorite for the womens 800-meter title, qualified fastest for the final as she breezed to victory in her semifinal heat, unchallenged, in 1 minute 58.15 seconds.Semenya, another compelling story at these games but for different reasons to Bolt, will run in the 800 final on Saturday.By then, Bolt will be done at the Olympics forever.Ive worked all my career, all my life, for this moment, Bolt said. So hopefully people can read about me as the greatest.---AP Sports Writer Raf Casert contributed to this report. Cheap Air Jordan 12 Retro Black Friday . Both players have lower body injuries that will keep them out of the lineup until at least January 31, which is the first game they can be activated from IR. Nike Air Jordan Retro 2018 . The Brazilian goalkeeper signed a loan deal with the Major League Soccer club on Friday as he looks to get playing time ahead of this summers World Cup in his home country. http://www.airjordandealsblackfriday.com/?tag=cheap-air-jordan-4-retro-black-friday . -- Tony Stewart is 20 pounds lighter and has a titanium rod in his surgically repaired right leg. Air Jordan 2018 Black Friday . Mitch Holmberg added a goal and three assists. Connor Chartier also scored for the Chiefs (3-0-0). Luke Harrison spoiled Garrett Hughsons shutout bid with a power-play goal at 13:17 of the third period. The Spokane goaltender finished with 28 saves, including a Brandon Fushimi penalty shot in the second period that would have tied the game 1-1. Cheap Air Jordan 9 Retro Black Friday . Detroit and Boston are deadlocked, 1-1, and Tigers manager Jim Leyland could be forgiven if he was caught rationalizing instead of dissecting how his club could blow a 5-1 lead late in Game 2.Mark English has had to withdraw from the World Indoor Championships in the US this weekend because of an unlucky training accident. The 22-year-old Sky Academy Sports Scholar and 800m runner has been in sizzling form during the winter with impressive performances in Germany, Sweden, Ireland and Glasgow.They were enough to earn him a late spot running for Ireland at the high-profile three-day championships at Portland in Oregon, starting Thursday, but the Letterkenny star has reluctantly opted to rest after the incident.English said: Ive had to pull out. I ran over a pothole in training and hurt my left foot. My coach and I feel that it is too much of a risk at this stage to try racing and do any more damage to it.I feel like that it is best to pull out of Oregon and focus on recovering for Rio.It is tough luck on English who has produced a fine run of results on the pre-season European circuit following his three-break wintter training trip in South Africa.ddddddddddddHe set an Irish record (1 minute 1.93 seconds in the 500m in Stockholm), was second behind Polands European outdoor champion Adam Kszczot in the 800m at the Glasgow Indoor Grand Prix and picked up a fourth 800m Irish indoor title. English has already secured the Olympic qualifying time for the 800m and will now rest for the start of the outdoor season with Rio less than five months away.WHATS COMING UP FOR OUR SCHOLARS...MARCH 19: Sam Oldham, English Championships, LoughboroughMar 28 - April 3: Jessica Judd, pre-season training in USAApril 9/10: Sam Oldham, British Championships, Liverpool Also See: English bows out in style About the Scholarship Meet the athletes Blogs Videos Galleries ' ' '