The man with the title world’s greatest athlete finished 17th at the Fourth of July Splash n’ Dash in Prineville.

Ashton Eaton, the 29-year-old athlete from Central Oregon and two-time Olympic decathlon champion, is not really a swimmer, or a paddler or a cyclist, or even a distance runner for that matter. But Tate Metcalf said he and his wife, Aimee Metcalf, and Eaton’s wife, Brianne Theisen-Eaton, thought it would be amusing to enter the recently retired track star in the four-leg multisport race, which is a fundraiser for the Crook County High School track and field team.

“We thought it’d be fun to sign Ashton up without him really knowing,” said Tate Metcalf, who was Eaton’s track coach at Bend’s Mountain View High School and now owns Sisters Athletic Club. “We told him probably five days beforehand. We gave him enough time to back out if he wanted to.”

A participant in another local cycling event passed Eaton on the road and then circled back to confirm that he had, indeed, just pedaled by Ashton Eaton.