EUGENE — Jeremy Taiwo unleashed one of the jumps of his life, and suddenly Ashton Eaton found himself in an incredibly unfamiliar position — trailing in a decathlon.

Luckily for Eaton, he ran a fast and smooth 400 meters Saturday to retake the lead on the first day of the decathlon at the U.S. Olympic trials in front of 21,866 at warm and sunny Hayward Field.

The 28-year-old from Bend has not lost a national or international multi-event competition since taking the silver medal at the 2011 world championships.

Eaton, the reigning Olympic and world champion, leads the event with 4,560 points. Taiwo, a former University of Washington decathlete, is second with 4,478 points. Wisconsin’s Zach Ziemek is third with 4,411.

Taiwo’s mark of 7 feet, 3 inches in the high jump is a trials and Hayward Field record for the decathlon.

Meanwhile, Eaton struggled in the high jump, failing three times at 6-8 after clearing 6-6¾. (His personal best is 6-11.)

“The high jump was decent, but we were trying to minimize the amount of jumps,” Eaton said. “Some of the lower bars, I was very happy with what I did. High jump is something that I’ve been struggling with, but I’m really confident that I’m coming along well, and can get a lot more points than that.”

Eaton said he suffered a quadriceps tear on May 20 while competing in the long jump at a meet in the Czech Republic.

“The quad didn’t bother me; I had a tight hamstring that was bothering me that came on during warm-up,” Eaton said. “But I suppose that’s what happens when you’re a 28-year-old decathlete.”

Taiwo’s high jump mark temporarily gave him a lead of 34 points over Eaton, 3,605 to 3,568.

Taiwo, 26, said it felt exhilarating to be leading the best in the world, even for a short time.

“He’s gone over 9,000 points multiple times,” Taiwo said of Eaton. “That’s like someone running 1:40 multiple times in the 800. If people realize what decathletes are doing, it’s catching on. To be competing with the best and be ahead of him at one point, especially since he’s the best athlete we’ve seen over the last 20 years … I’m hoping I can get some traction. I know I’m one of the best athletes in the world, and to be there competing against Eaton, that has to say something.”

Taiwo’s lead was brief. In the last event of the day, Eaton ran the fastest time in the 400 (46.30 seconds), and Taiwo ran 48.76 in the same heat. The time difference was enough to easily put Eaton back in the lead.

But the former Mountain View High School and University of Oregon star said he is not concerned with winning — he just wants to finish in the top three to qualify for the Rio Olympics.

“The goal coming in was just to get in the top three … don’t really care about the score,” Eaton said. “So basically going smooth through the whole thing. You saw that in the 100, you saw that in the long jump. The 400 was, again, just trying to be smooth.”

Eaton started the decathlon looking incredibly relaxed and smooth in the 100 under optimal sprinting conditions with temperatures in the 80s and fair skies. He posted the fastest time in the event, 10.34 seconds.

“It was absolutely perfect,” said Eaton’s longtime coach, Harry Marra. “It was the smoothest 100 meters he ever ran. The plan was just to be smooth. But his hamstring tightened up a bit. What I was worried about was the long jump. But the guy comes down and jumps 25-8 or whatever. We wanted a one-and-done, and he did it.”

Indeed, after claiming the longest jump of the day on his first attempt — 25-8¾ — Eaton packed up and left the track to get ready for the shot put.

Shortly after the excitement of the women’s 10,000 meters, Eaton posted a 46-¾ on his first shot put attempt, good for seventh in the event. Shot put has always been one of Eaton’s weaker events in the decathlon, and he was unable to improve the mark on his next two tries.

“Technical difficulties in the shot put were very frustrating, but it was good to compete in it,” Eaton said.

Marra was asked what it felt like to see Eaton trailing in a decathlon, even if for a brief time.

“Never saw it before,” Marra said with a smile. “But it’s OK.”

So, will Eaton — who should have no trouble finishing in the top three — push it today to get the trials victory, even with concerns about his questionable quad and hamstring?

“Who knows?” Marra said. “As long as it’s safe, yeah, sure. Ashton’s a smart guy. He won’t push it. He’s an experienced kid … going through the motions here, and we’ll light the joint up in Rio.”

— Reporter: 541-383-0318, mmorical@bendbulletin.com.

“The goal coming in was just to get in the top three … don’t really care about the score.”— Ashton Eaton