A heptathlon is a track and field combined events contest made up of seven events. The name derives from the Greek ἑπτά and ἄθλος. A competitor in a heptathlon is referred to as a heptathlete.
Jacqueline Joyner-Kersee is a retired American track and field athlete who competed in both the heptathlon and long jump. She won three gold, one silver, and two bronze Olympic medals at four different Olympic Games. Joyner-Kersee was also a four-time gold medalist at the world championships. Since 1988, she has held the world record for heptathlon.
The women's heptathlon competition at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens was held at the Olympic Stadium on 20–21 August.
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60 m. The flat race was 200 m until 1976 and thereafter 800 m. In elite-level outdoor competition, the pentathlon was superseded in 1981 by the heptathlon, which has seven events, with both 200 m and 800 m, as well as the javelin throw.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.
The European Athletics Indoor Championships is a biennial indoor track and field competition for European athletes that is organised by the European Athletic Association. It was held for the first time in 1970, replacing the European Indoor Games, its predecessor event first held in 1966.
Dame Jessica Ennis-Hill is a British retired athlete, specialising in the heptathlon and 100 metres hurdles. As a competitor in heptathlon, she is the 2012 Olympic champion, a three-time world champion, and the 2010 European champion. She is also the 2010 World Indoor pentathlon champion. A member of the City of Sheffield & Dearne athletic club, she is a former British national record holder for the heptathlon. She is also a former British record holder in the 100 metres hurdles, the high jump and the indoor pentathlon.
These are the official results of the Women's heptathlon competition at the 1986 European Championships in Stuttgart, West Germany, held at Neckarstadion on 29 and 30 August 1986.
These are the official results of the Women's Heptathlon competition at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, South Korea. There were a total number of 32 entrants, with three non-starters. The competition was held on September 23, 1988, and September 24, 1988.
These are the official results of the Women's heptathlon competition at the 1994 European Championships in Helsinki, Finland. The competition was held at Helsinki Olympic Stadium on 8 August and 9 August 1994.
Wendy Renee Brown is a retired heptathlete and triple jumper from the United States. She competed in the heptathlon at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, South Korea, finishing in 18th place behind teammate Jackie Joyner Kersee's still current world record. As the event was in transition to become an official event, she set the world record in the women's triple jump twice in the mid-1980s. Because this was before the event was declared official, neither of those records were officially ratified. Brown went to the University of Southern California where she won the 1986 NCAA Indoor Championship in the Triple Jump and later winning 1988 NCAA Championship in the Heptathlon. She is still the school record holder in the Triple Jump and Heptathlon, as well as being ranked second in Long Jump and High Jump, and fifth in the Javelin throw.
Katarina Mary Johnson-Thompson is an English athlete. A multi-eventer, she is primarily known as both a heptathlete and an indoor pentathlete. In heptathlon she is a double world champion, double Commonwealth Games champion and an Olympic silver medallist. In indoor pentathlon, she is a world and double European champion.
Nafissatou "Nafi" Thiam is a Belgian athlete specialising in multi-event competition. She is the first athlete with three multi-event gold medals at the Olympic Games, winning the heptathlon at the 2016 Rio, 2020 Tokyo and 2024 Paris Olympics. Her three individual Olympic golds in a row for a woman equals the record of Anita Wlodarczyk of Poland in the hammer and Faith Kipyegon in the 1500 metres Thiam is also the only Belgian athlete to successfully defend an Olympic title.
Morgan Lake is a British high jumper. She won the silver medal at the 2018 Commonwealth Games and placed fourth at the 2022 Commonwealth Games. Lake finished sixth in the 2017 World Championships in Athletics and fourth in the 2018 World Indoor Championships.
Nadine Visser is a Dutch track and field athlete who competed in the combined events until 2017 and specialises in short hurdling since 2018.
The women's heptathlon at the 2018 Commonwealth Games, as part of the athletics program, took place in the Carrara Stadium on 12 and 13 April 2018.
The women's heptathlon event at the 2020 Summer Olympics took place on 4 and 5 August 2021 at the Japan National Stadium. 24 athletes competed.
Tyra Gittens is an Olympic athlete from Trinidad and Tobago. Gittens set 6 national records for Trinidad and Tobago indoor records in Pentathlon 4746 points, high jump 1.93 m, and long jump 6.68 m, Trinidad and Tobago outdoor records in Heptathlon 6418 points, high jump 1.95 m, and long jump 6.96 m.
The women's heptathlon at the 2021 World Athletics U20 Championships was held at the Kasarani Stadium on 18 and 19 August.
The women's heptathlon at the 2022 World Athletics U20 Championships was held at the Estadio Olímpico Pascual Guerrero on 3 and 4 August.
