The decathlon is a combined event in athletics consisting of ten track and field events. The word "decathlon" was formed, in analogy to the word "pentathlon", from Greek δέκα and ἄθλος. Events are held over two consecutive days and the winners are determined by the combined performance in all. Performance is judged on a points system in each event, not by the position achieved. The decathlon is contested mainly by male athletes, while female athletes typically compete in the heptathlon.
The men's decathlon competition at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens was held at the Olympic Stadium on 23–24 August.
Latvia competed at the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin, Germany. 29 competitors, all men, took part in 16 events in 6 sports. It would be the last time that Latvia would compete at the Summer Games as an independent nation until the 1992 Summer Olympics. After the nation was occupied by the Soviet Union in 1940, Latvian athletes were forced to compete at the Olympic Games as part of the USSR delegations.
Chile competed at the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin, Germany. The nation returned to the Olympic Games after missing the 1932 Summer Olympics. 40 competitors, 39 men and 1 woman, took part in 27 events in 8 sports.
The United States competed at the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin, Germany. The Americans finished second in the medal table to the hosts. 359 competitors, 313 men and 46 women, took part in 127 events in 21 sports.
Bulgaria competed at the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin, Germany. The nation returned to the Olympic Games after having missed the 1932 Summer Olympics due to high travel costs. 26 competitors, all men, took part in 22 events in 7 sports.
China, as the Republic of China, competed at the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin, Germany. 54 competitors, 52 men and 2 women, took part in 27 events in 7 sports. The team is the inspiration for the 2008 film, Champions.
These are the official results of the men's decathlon at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia.
Anthony Joseph Plansky was an American football running back who played professionally in the National Football League (NFL) for the New York Giants and Boston Braves.
These are the official results of the men's decathlon competition at the 1986 European Athletics Championships in Stuttgart, West Germany, held at Neckarstadion on 27 and 28 August 1986.
These are the official results of the men's decathlon competition at the 1982 European Athletics Championships in Athens, Greece. The competition was held on 7 September and 8 September 1982. Points are based on the 1962 scoring tables.
These are the official results of the men's decathlon competition at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, California. There were a total number of 26 participating athletes, with the competition starting on August 8, 1984, and ending on August 9, 1984.
These are the official results of the men's decathlon competition at the 2003 World Championships in Athletics in Paris, France. With 20 participating athletes, including eight non-finishers, the competition is notable for having the lowest number of competitors in the World Championships history. The competition started on Monday 26 August 2003 and ended on Tuesday 27 August 2003.
The men's decathlon at the 2008 Summer Olympics took place between August 21 and 22, at the Beijing National Stadium.
The men's decathlon event of the 2003 Pan American Games took place on Tuesday 5 August and Wednesday 6 August 2003.
The Men's decathlon at the 1952 Summer Olympics took place on 25 and 26 July, at the Helsinki Olympic Stadium. Now 21-year-old Bob Mathias from the United States repeated his performances from the previous games by winning the gold medal and setting new world and Olympic records. It was the second time the United States Olympic team earned all three medals in the event, the first one being in the 1936 Olympic Games.
The Men's decathlon competition at the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, was held at the Olympic Stadium on 29–30 July.
Combined events at the Summer Olympics have been contested in several formats at the multi-sport event. There are two combined track and field events in the current Olympic athletics programme: a men's decathlon and a women's heptathlon.
The men's decathlon competition at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The event was held at the Olympic Stadium between 17–18 August.
The men's decathlon event at the 2020 Summer Olympics took place on 4 and 5 August 2021 at the Japan National Stadium. 23 athletes competed.
