Just 12 months after producing one of the most surprising performances of 2010, Ashton Eaton feels he is on course to improve on his own world indoor record for the heptathlon.

While the 2010 World Indoor Championships was taking place in Doha last year, Eaton was in action at the NCAA Championships on the other side of the world, scoring 6499 in the heptathlon to break the world record by 23 points.

Few people outside of the USA had heard of Eaton before that weekend, but after putting together a superb series of 6.71 (60m), 7.73m (long jump), 13.12m (shot), 2.11m (high jump), 7.77 (60m hurdles), 5.10m (pole vault), 2:32.67 (1000m), he became the talk of the athletics world.