The decathlon is a combined event in athletics consisting of 10 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.
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.
Francis Morgan Ayodélé Thompson,, better known as Daley Thompson, is an English former decathlete. He won the decathlon gold medal at the Olympic Games in 1980 and 1984, and broke the world record for the event four times. He was unbeaten in competition for nine years.
The 400 metres hurdles is a track and field hurdling event. The event has been on the Olympic athletics programme since 1900 for men and since 1984 for women.
Siegfried "Siggi" Wentz is a German former track and field athlete who competed in the decathlon. He is the 1984 Olympic bronze medallist, and a two-time World Championship medallist.
Jürgen Hingsen is a former West German decathlete who won several medals at international championships and Olympic Games in the 1980s, and held the decathlon world record in 1982 and again from 1983 to 1984. His rivalry with British decathlete Daley Thompson proved one of the most exciting in athletics during the 1980s.
Uwe Hohn is a retired German track and field athlete who competed in the javelin throw. He is the only athlete to throw a javelin 100 metres or more, with his world record of 104.80 m. A new javelin design was implemented in 1986 and the records had to be restarted, thus Hohn's mark became an "eternal world record". He coached Indian track and field athlete Neeraj Chopra, who won the gold in the men's javelin throw at the 2020 Summer Olympics held in Tokyo.
These are the official results of the Men's Decathlon competition at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, Spain. There were a total number of 36 participating athletes, with eight competitors who didn't finish the competition.
These are the official results of the Men's Decathlon competition at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, South Korea. There were a total number of 39 participating athletes, with five competitors who didn't finish the competition.
Ashton James Eaton is a retired American decathlete and two-time Olympic champion, who holds the world record in the indoor heptathlon event. Eaton was the second decathlete to break the 9,000-point barrier in the decathlon, with 9,039 points, a score he bettered on August 29, 2015, when he beat his own world record with a score of 9,045 points, and remains the only person to exceed 9000 points twice. His world record was broken by Frenchman Kevin Mayer on September 16, 2018, with a total of 9,126 points, who became the third man to pass the 9,000-point barrier.
Décastar is an annual athletics competition that takes place in Talence, in the department of the Gironde in France. Organised by ADEM, it is one of the athletics meetings that make up the World Athletics Challenge – Combined Events. Male and female athletes compete in the decathlon or heptathlon, respectively, and points scored at the Décastar count towards a yearly total for the parent competition.
The first world record in the decathlon was recognized by the International Association of Athletics Federations in 1922.
Kevin Mayer is a French athlete specialising in decathlon and indoor heptathlon. He is two-time world champion, two-time Olympic silver medalist and the world record holder in the decathlon since 2018. He is also a world and three-time European champion in heptathlon.
The United States of America will compete at the 2013 World Championships in Athletics from August 10 to August 18 in Moscow, Russia. The membership of the team was selected at the 2013 USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships. However, membership on the team was subject to the athlete achieving a qualification standard. In addition, champions from the previous World Championships and the 2012 IAAF Diamond League receive an automatic bye. An automatic entry is also available to an Area Champion, the IAAF definition of an Area essentially being the specified continental areas of the world. The United States is part of the North American, Central American and Caribbean Athletic Association, which has not held a championship apparently since its inaugural championship in 2007. The deadline for entries was July 20. The final team membership as submitted to the IAAF was announced on July 29, 2013.
Oleksandr Valentynovych Apaychev is a former Soviet Ukrainian decathlete. His personal best score of 8709 points is the current Ukrainian record and ranks 16th on the world all-time list. He placed second at the 1986 Goodwill Games and competed in the 1988 Summer Olympics, but failed to finish due to a leg infection. In 2009 he was named as head coach of Ukraine's national athletics team.
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.
Grigoriy Grigoryevich Degtyaryov was a Soviet Russian decathlete. Degtyaryov won gold medals at the 1984 Friendship Games and the 1986 Goodwill Games and was ranked in the world's top 10 in every year from 1982 to 1986. As of 2015, his personal best of 8698 points remains the Russian national record.
Jake Stein is a former Australian rules footballer who last played for Gold Coast in the Australian Football League (AFL) and a former track and field athlete specialising in the decathlon. He previously played for the Greater Western Sydney Giants.
