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.
Robert Bruce Mathias was an American decathlete, two-time Olympic gold medalist in the event, a United States Marine Corps officer, actor and United States Congressman representing the state of California for four terms from 1967 to 1975.
Roman Šebrle is a retired decathlete from the Czech Republic. He is considered to be one of the best decathlon athletes of all time. Originally a high jumper, he later switched to the combined events and is a former world record holder in the decathlon. In 2001 in Götzis he became the first decathlete ever to achieve over 9,000 points, setting the record at 9,026 points, succeeding his compatriot, Tomáš Dvořák, who had scored 8,994 points two years earlier.
Rein Aun was a multitalented Estonian athlete. He competed for the Soviet Union in the decathlon at the 1964 and 1968 Olympics, winning a silver medal in 1964.
The Men's Decathlon at the 2000 Summer Olympics as part of the athletics program was held at the Stadium Australia on Wednesday 27 September and Thursday 28 September.
Hans Van Alphen is a Belgian decathlete.
Russell Arden Hodge is an American track and field athlete, world record holder in decathlon (1966–1967), Olympic competitor from 1964, and silver medalist from the Pan American Games (1971).
These are the official results of the Men's Decathlon competition at the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow, USSR. There were a total number of 21 participating athletes, with the competition starting on 25 July 1980, and ending on 26 July 1980.
Lennart Per-Olav Hedmark is a retired Swedish track and field athlete who competed in the decathlon. He represented his country at the 1968, 1972 and 1976 Summer Olympics with the best result of eighth place in 1976.
Damian David George Warner is a Canadian track and field athlete specializing in decathlon. He is the 2020 Olympic champion and a three-time World medallist. Warner also won the bronze medal at the 2016 Summer Olympics and was the 2014 Commonwealth champion and the two-time and reigning Pan American champion from the 2015 and 2019 Games. Warner holds the title to the Pan Am Games record and the Canadian record for the decathlon, and the fourth-highest decathlon score in history.
Combined track and field events are competitions in which athletes participate in a number of track and field events, earning points for their performance in each event, which adds to a total points score. Outdoors, the most common combined events are the men's decathlon and the women's heptathlon. Due to stadium limitations, indoor combined events competition have a reduced number of events, resulting in the men's heptathlon and the women's pentathlon. Athletes are allocated points based on an international-standard points scoring system, such as the decathlon scoring table. Other longer combined events do exist, such as the icosathlon for men and the tetradecathlon for women. Indoors, both men and women compete in the tetradecathlon, with slightly different events to the women's outdoor version.
The men's decathlon event at the 2009 European Athletics U23 Championships was held in Kaunas, Lithuania, at S. Dariaus ir S. Girėno stadionas on 17 and 18 July.
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 at the 2017 World Championships in Athletics was held at the Olympic Stadium on 11–12 August.
The men's decathlon at the 2018 Commonwealth Games, as part of the athletics programme, took place in the Carrara Stadium on 9 and 10 April 2018.
C. Frank Zarnowski is an American author, historian, coach, TV commentator, statistician and public address announcer for track and field events, specializing in the decathlon. Since 1970, Zarnowski has coached and announced at national track and field championships. On five different occasions between 1975 and 2012, he was the public address announcer when the decathlon world record was set. In addition to publishing the weekly DECA Newsletter, Zarnowski's non-profit website, DECA: The Decathlon Association, is a resource for both the history, rules, and background of the decathlon, as well as up-to-date results from recent events. Several of Zarnowski's books on track and field have been nominated for national awards, including Olympic Glory Denied, and All-Around Men: Heroes of a Forgotten Sport. As a highly regarded authority on the decathlon, Zarnowski also provides expert commentary on the event in print and online media. Zarnowski was professor of economics at Mount St. Mary's University from 1967 to 2008 and has held the same position at Dartmouth College since 2002. He has coached track and field, as well as cross country, at Lehigh University and Mount St. Mary's University.
The men's decathlon event at the 1967 Pan American Games was held in Winnipeg on 1 and 2 August.
The men's 800 metres event at the 1967 Summer Universiade was held at the National Olympic Stadium in Tokyo on 2 and 3 September 1967.
The men's decathlon at the 2021 World Athletics U20 Championships was held at the Kasarani Stadium on 20 and 21 August.
