A pentathlon is a contest featuring five events. The name is derived from Greek: combining the words pente (five) and -athlon (competition). The first pentathlon was documented in Ancient Greece and was part of the Ancient Olympic Games. Five events were contested over one day for the Ancient Olympic pentathlon, starting with the long jump, javelin throwing, and discus throwing, followed by the stadion and wrestling. Pentathletes were considered to be among the most skilled athletes, and their training was often part of military service—each of the five events in the pentathlon was thought to be useful in war or battle.
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 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60 m. The flat race was 200 m until 1976 and thereafter 800 m. In elite-level outdoor competition, the pentathlon was superseded in 1981 by the heptathlon, which has seven events, with both 200 m and 800 m, as well as the javelin throw.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.
Olga Rypakova is a Kazakhstani track and field athlete. Originally a heptathlete, she switched to focus on the long jump and began to compete in the triple jump after 2007. Her first successes came in the combined events at Asian competitions – she won the women's pentathlon at the 2005 Asian Indoor Games and took the heptathlon gold at the 2006 Asian Games the following year.
Judith Earline Veronica Simpson is a British former heptathlete who competed at three Olympic Games. She went on to appear as Nightshade in the TV show Gladiators between 1993 and 1996.
These are the official results of the Women's Heptathlon competition at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, Spain. There were a total number of 32 participating athletes, with one non-starter and six competitors who didn't finish the competition.
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 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, California.
The Women's Heptathlon competition at the 1983 World Championships in Athletics in Helsinki, Finland started on Monday 8 August 1983 and ended on Tuesday 9 August 1983. There were a total number of 26 participating athletes, including six non-finishers.
These are the official results of the Women's Heptathlon competition at the 1982 European Championships in Athens, Greece, held at Olympic Stadium "Spiros Louis" on 9 and 10 September 1982.
The women's 100 metres was an event at the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow. The competition was held on July 25, 1980, and on July 26, 1980.
These are the official results of the Women's 200 metres event at the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow. The competition was held on July 28, 1980, and on July 30, 1980.
These are the official results of the women's 400 metres event at the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow. The competition was held on July 25, 1980, and on July 28, 1980.
Małgorzata Bożena Guzowska-Nowak is a retired Polish heptathlete.
The 1986 Goodwill Games was the inaugural edition of the international multi-sport event created by Ted Turner, which was held from 5 – 20 July 1986. The main stadium was the Central Lenin Stadium in Moscow, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union. The Games were a response to the Olympic boycotts of the period, which saw the United States refuse to attend the 1980 Olympic Games in Moscow, and the Soviet Union refusing to attend the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles. The Soviet athletes dominated the competition, winning 118 gold medals and 241 medals overall. The United States finished second place, with 42 golds and 142 medals in total.
The athletics competition at the 1981 Summer Universiade was held at the National Stadium in Bucharest, Romania, in July 1981. The programme featured 23 events for men and 16 for women. A total of fourteen Universiade records were broken during the 1981 Games.
Brianne Theisen-Eaton is a Canadian retired track and field athlete who competed in the heptathlon and women's pentathlon. She won the bronze medal at the 2016 Summer Olympics. Theisen-Eaton holds the Canadian record for the heptathlon with 6,808 points, as well as the indoor pentathlon with a score of 4768 points. Theisen-Eaton is a heptathlon silver medallist from the 2013 World Championships and 2015 World Championships, as well as a pentathlon silver medalist from the 2014 World Indoor Championships. She is the first and only Canadian woman to podium in the multi-events at the World Championships. Theisen-Eaton won Commonwealth Games gold in the heptathlon at Glasgow 2014 and was the 2016 World Indoor Champion in the pentathlon. She also won a bronze medal as part of the women's 4 x 400 m relay at the 2015 Pan American Games in Toronto.
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.
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.
