Ashton Eaton, who came out of Central Oregon to become the best decathlete the world ever has known, announced Wednesday he would retire as an athlete.

Eaton, 28, first came to prominence at the University of Oregon, where he won three NCAA decathlon titles and set the world record in the indoor heptathlon.

Eaton's wife, Brianne Theisen-Eaton, reigning world champion in the indoor pentathlon, also announced her retirement.

The Eatons made the announcements jointly on their website.

Eaton wrote: "Frankly there isn't much more I want to do in sport. I gave the most physically robust years of my life to the discovery and pursuit of my limits in this domain. Did I reach them? Truthfully I'm not sure anyone really does. It seems like we tend to run out of time or will before we run out of potential."

Eaton's potential seemed limitless.

He first set the world decathlon record in the 2012 U.S. Olympic Trials at Hayward Field. Later that year he earned his first Olympic gold medal.

Eaton reset the world record by scoring 9.045 points at the 2015 World Championships in Beijing.

He capped his career last summer with a second Olympic gold medal in Rio de Janeiro.

Theisen-Eaton, 28, also starred for the Oregon Ducks, where she won three NCAA heptathlon championships.

Competing for Canada, she was a three-time world championships silver medalist. She won the gold medal in the pentathlon at the 2016 World Indoor Championships at the Oregon Convention Center. She took bronze in the heptathlon last summer in Rio.

Theisen-Eaton wrote: "I gave the last 4 years everything I could. I put my life on hold. Track and field was the priority before everything else: my family, my friends, my marriage, my future. This is something I chose to do and I don't regret it for a second. It made me happy to pursue something I was so passionate about.

"But I've done it. I went after what I set out to do and whether I achieved it or fell short is not the point. The point is that I know deep down that I gave it every ounce of energy I had."

Harry Marra has coached both Eaton and Theisen-Eaton since partway through their collegiate careers at Oregon.

Marra said they told him in November they had decided to retire.

"Before they could explain any more, I said: "That's a great decision,'" Marra said.

Marra said he thought Eaton and Theisen-Eaton had four choices after leaving Rio:

-- To fully commit themselves to another four-year run at the 2020 Olympics.

-- To go to the 2017 Hypo Meeting, an annual competition in Gotzis, Austria that has become an international celebration of the multi events, and make that their farewell to the sport.

-- To pick up an individual event and extend their careers that way. Eaton was successful internationally as a 400-meter hurdler during the 2014 outdoor season.

-- To exit track and field while they were on top.

"In the multi-events, where there are so many pitfalls, they have avoided those pitfalls," Marra said. "But how long could they go on like that? At some point, something will bite you.

"How many athletes have you seen who were the best in the world who hang on for the extra money or the notoriety, and they don't do it as well? Something goes haywire. Ash and Brianne can walk away now, satisfied they have done everything they can do to be the best they can be."

-- Ken Goe

503-221-8040 | @KenGoe