(CNN) Ashton Eaton did what he does best Thursday -- laid down the law to his rivals and showed just why he's considered the most complete athlete on the planet.
Nobody can match the US star when it comes to the decathlon -- and there was no one in this field who was ever going to stop him from retaining his Olympic title.
Kevin Mayer, the young French pretender, had toyed with the idea of overhauling his illustrious opponent, but such a move never came to fruition.
Ashton Eaton also won the Olympic title at London 2012.
While Eaton failed to reach the heights set by his own world record, his score of 8,893 points was more than enough to win and tie the Olympic record.
Mayer, who took silver with 8,834 points, edged out Canada's Damien Warner, who claimed bronze.
Eaton, 28, is the first man to retain the decathlon title since Daley Thompson in 1984.
Day 13 live
"To win two Olympic golds in a row like Daley Thompson is very special," Eaton told reporters.
"One day, I'm going to have to meet Daley, shake his hand and thank him for giving me something to chase after.
"My throwing has been bad in the past, but I really got after the discus and shot here. Can I do three in a row? Maybe you should ask Daley."
Rio Olympics: Day 13
Jamaica's Usain Bolt crosses the finish line
to win the 200 meters for the third consecutive Olympics on Thursday, August 18. Bolt has also won three straight golds in the 100 meters.
Bolt builds a big lead in the final stretch of the race.
American Ryan Crouser won gold in the shot put.
Belgium's Simon Gougnard, left, is challenged by Argentina's Agustin Mazzilli during the field hockey final. Argentina won the gold medal with a 4-2 victory.
Norwegian golfer Marianne Skarpnord reacts to a missed birdie putt during the second round.
Synchronized swimmers from Russia perform their technical routine.
Japan's Misaki Matsutomo, right, and Ayaka Takahashi, second from left, celebrate with their coaches after winning the doubles final in badminton.
Spain's Alba Torrens, right, shoots over Serbia's Sonja Petrovic during a semifinal game. Spain won 68-54 and will play the United States in the final.
German decathlete Arthur Abele gestures during the javelin portion of the event.
Ukrainian canoeist Yuriy Cheban celebrates gold in the C-1 200-meter sprint.
South Korea's Min-kyu Choi and Gwang-hee Cho race Brazil's Gilvan Bitencourt Ribeiro and Edson Isaias Freitas da Silva during the K-2 200-meter sprint.
Italy enters the pool for the water polo semifinal against Serbia.
Egypt's Omar El Geziry, left, competes against Guatemala's Charles Fernandez during the fencing portion of the modern pentathlon.
Chinese diver Ren Qian takes part in the 10-meter platform final, which she won. She is the
youngest medal winner at the Rio Games so far (15 years and 180 days).
U.S. freestyle wrestler Helen Maroulis celebrates after winning gold in the 53-kilogram (117-pound) final.
Russia's Alexey Denisenko kicks Belgium's Jaouad Achab during a taekwondo semifinal. Denisenko ended up with the silver medal.
Japan's Risako Kawai, in red, wrestles Latvia's Anastasija Grigorjeva. Kawai would go on to win gold in her weight class.
Sailors start the medal race for the women's 49er FX class.
U.S. triathlete Joe Maloy is doused with water after crossing the finish line.
BMX riders take flight during the quarterfinals.
Germany's Erik Heil and Thomas Ploessel celebrate winning bronze in the 49er class.
American Allyson Felix tries to hand the baton to teammate English Gardner in a 4x100-meter relay heat. The U.S. team was disqualified after dropping the baton, but it won an appeal after officials ruled the pair had been obstructed by a Brazilian runner during the exchange. They later clinched a spot in the final after a re-run.
Jonathan Brownlee of Great Britain competes in the triathlon. He took home the silver medal. His brother Alistair won the gold.
Kerron Clement of the United States celebrates winning gold in the 400-meter hurdles.
Puerto Rico's Javier Culson reacts after being disqualified in the 400-meter hurdles final.
Indian badminton player P. V. Sindhu plays a semifinal match against Japan's Nozomi Okuhara. Sindhu won, and she will face Spain's Carolina Marin in the gold-medal match on Friday.
Ana Simic of Croatia competes in the high jump qualifications.
U.S. rhythmic gymnast Laura Zeng practices her routine.
Spain's Carlos Tobalina takes part in the shot put.
Mexican diver Paola Espinosa competes in the 10-meter platform semifinal.
A U.S. fan attends a women's freestyle wrestling match.
Eaton's points total in the 10-discipline event equaled the Olympic record set by the Czech Republic's Roman Sebrle at the 2004 Athens Games.
He led from start in the two-day competition although faded slightly as Mayer closed the gap.
The Frenchman need to beat Eaton by seven seconds in the final event -- the 1,500 meters -- to take the title.
But that was never going to happen, with Eaton racing past his rival with 200 meters remaining to seal the win, clocking a time of 4:23.33 seconds.
US gold rush
Eaton was one of four American athletes to take gold in track and field events Thursday.
Dalilah Muhammad became the first American woman to win the 400-meter hurdles after she scythed through the field, clocking a time of 53.13 seconds to win by a margin of 0.42 seconds.
Dalilah Muhammad cruised to victory in the women's 400-meter hurdles.
"The reality of winning is even better than the dream, Olympic champion, in front of my name," she told reporters.
"I put my hope and trust in my coach and it paid off. I'm so happy. I tightened over the last hurdle, but I got it done. I'm so so happy and proud."
Denmark's Sara Petersen won the silver medal ahead of Ashley Spencer of the United States.
Her male counterpart, Kerron Clement, won his hurdles race during the morning session, earning a gold medal to put in a spot in his trophy case where a note now sits reserving the space for his Rio hardware.
"It was on a piece of paper, I wrote it in January of 2016. I knew that I was coming here to get a gold medal, I had one plan for the entire season. To get the gold medal in Rio, and I did that," he said.
Elsewhere, Ryan Crouser broke a 28-year Olympic record to win gold for the US in the men's shot put final.
The 23-year-old threw 22.52 meters to break the record of 22.47 meters set by East German Ulf Timmermann at Seoul in 1988.
Crouser beat teammate and 2015 world champion Joe Kovacs, in second place, with New Zealand's Tomas Walsh taking bronze.
Ryan Crouser set a new Olympic record with his fifth attempt.
In the women's javelin, Croatia's Sara Kolak set a personal best and a national record to win gold and end Barbora Spotakova's quest to become the first woman to win three consecutive Olympic titles in the event.
The Czech Republic's Spotakova had to make do with bronze, with South Africa's Sunette Viljoen claiming silver.