A heptathlon is a track and field combined events contest made up of seven events. The name derives from the Greek επτά and ἄθλος. A competitor in a heptathlon is referred to as a heptathlete.
The pentathlon or women's pentathlon is a combined track and field event in which each woman competes in five separate events over one day. The distance or time for each event is converted to points via scoring tables, with the overall ranking determined by total points. Since 1949 the events have been sprint hurdling, high jump, shot put, long jump, and a flat race. The sprint hurdles distance was 80 m outdoors until 1969 and thereafter 100 m; in indoor pentathlon the distance is 60 m. The flat race was 200 m until 1976 and thereafter 800 m. In elite-level outdoor competition, the pentathlon was superseded in 1981 by the heptathlon, which has seven events, with both 200 m and 800 m, as well as the javelin throw. Pentathlon is still contested at school and masters level and indoors.
Tatyana Sergeyevna Chernova is a Russian former heptathlete. She was originally awarded the bronze medals at the 2008 and 2012 Summer Olympics before being stripped of them for doping. A serial offender, all of her athletics results from 17 August 2008 to 5 February 2016 were disqualified due to doping.
The Women's Heptathlon at the 2009 World Championships in Athletics was held at the Olympic Stadium on August 16 and August 17. A number of high-profile heptathletes did not feature at the competition, including defending champion Carolina Klüft and 2007 bronze medallist Kelly Sotherton, who were both injured, and Olympic silver medallist Hyleas Fountain, who failed to qualify at the national championships.
The Women's heptathlon competition at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, United Kingdom. The event was held at the Olympic Stadium on 3–4 August.
The Women's Heptathlon at the 2011 World Championships in Athletics was held at the Daegu Stadium on 29 and 30 August.
Nadine Broersen is a Dutch track and field athlete, specializing in the heptathlon and high jump. She holds the current national record in the high jump with 1.94m. She is the 2014 World Indoor pentathlon champion. She competes for the track and field club AV Sprint in Breda.
Nafissatou "Nafi" Thiam is a Belgian athlete specializing in multi-event competition. Thiam is a two-time Olympic gold medalist, winning the heptathlon event at the 2016 and 2020 Summer Olympics. She is the only Belgian athlete, male or female, to successfully defend an Olympic title and only the second woman after Jackie Joyner-Kersee to win back-to-back Olympic titles in the event.
Morgan Lake is a British track and field athlete, specialising in heptathlon and the high jump. She is the 2014 World Junior champion in heptathlon and high jump, and the 2015 European Junior champion in high jump.
Ana Camila Donatella Pirelli Cubas is a Paraguayan track and field athlete who competes in the heptathlon. She is the Paraguayan record holder in the event with her personal best score of 5733 points. Pirelli holds more than a dozen national records in events as varied as the 100 metres hurdles, shot put and the indoor women's pentathlon. Pirelli was the heptathlon silver medallist at the 2013 South American Championships in Athletics. She won the gold medal at the 2013 Bolivarian Games and the 2014 South American Games, breaking games records at both competitions. Pirelli is tied to Paraguay Marathon Club and competes in Paraguay's national competitions under the Federación Paraguaya de Atletismo.
The women's heptathlon at the 2014 World Junior Championships in Athletics was held at the Hayward Field on 22 and 23 July.
The women's heptathlon competition at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, was won by Nafissatou Thiam of Belgium. The event was held at the Olympic Stadium on 12–13 August.
The women's heptathlon at the 2015 World Championships in Athletics was held at the Beijing National Stadium on 22 and 23 August.
Anouk Vetter is a Dutch athlete who specialises in the heptathlon. She holds the Dutch record in heptathlon of 6689 points. She won a gold medal at the heptathlon at the 2016 European Championships. and a silver medal at the 2020 Summer Olympics.
The 43rd edition of the annual Hypo-Meeting took place on May 27 and May 28, 2017 in Götzis, Austria. The track and field competition, featuring a men's decathlon and a women's heptathlon event was part of the 2017 IAAF Combined Events Challenge. Damian Warner and Nafissatou Thiam were the winners of the events overall. Thiam's score was the third best time in history and she became only the fourth woman to ever score over 7000 points.
The men's javelin throw at the 2017 World Championships in Athletics is being held at the Olympic Stadium on 10 and 12 August.
The men's decathlon at the 2017 World Championships in Athletics was held at the Olympic Stadium on 11–12 August.
The women's heptathlon at the 2019 World Athletics Championships was held at the Khalifa International Stadium in Doha, Qatar, from 2 to 4 October 2019.
The women's heptathlon at the 2022 World Athletics Championships was held at the Hayward Field in Eugene on 17 and 18 July 2022.
