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 field's ultimate superstar to take center stage again.

What more could the now two-time Olympic champion Eaton do Thursday night to get a sliver of the limelight that beams down so brightly on Usain Bolt, now an eight-time Olympic gold medalist?

Not much.

"I had the pleasure of being in the same era as Usain Bolt," Eaton said. "I mean, the guy's last name is Bolt, he's the fastest man ever, you can't write a story like that."

[ARKANSANS IN RIO: Full coverage of 24 in Olympics]

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.

Then there was Bolt who roared around the curve at the Olympic Stadium to win the 200 meters in 19.78 seconds, completing his second of three acts his three-part quest for gold in Rio.

"On the [straightaway], my body didn't respond. I'm getting old," said the 29-year-old Bolt, who was trying to break his own world record of 19.19. "I've worked all my career, all my life, for this moment, so hopefully people can read about me as the greatest."

Today's 400-meter relay final is all that's left now between Bolt and three golds at three consecutive Olympics. Concentrating on not messing that up for Bolt, a Jamaica team led by Asafa Powell got into the final. They finished second in their heat behind Japan, but Jamaica's in.

"There was some pressure to make it to the finals," Powell said, relieved he didn't have to deliver any bad news as Bolt prepared for the 200 final.

Alongside Eaton's 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 adding to the the U.S. total with gold in the women's 400-meter hurdles and Ashley Spencer added a bronze, with another American 1-2 only just thwarted by Denmark's 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. team's gold rush.

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. women's 400-relay team was a little like Bolt: They were the only ones everyone was looking at.

Leading off, Tianna Bartoletta nestled into the starting blocks in the second lane for the team's 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, 'It's 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 can't 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.

South Africa's Caster Semenya, the outright favorite for the women's 800-meter title, qualified fastest for the final as she breezed to victory in her semifinal heat, unchallenged, in 1 minute 58.15 seconds.

Sports on 08/19/2016