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 επτά and ἄθλος. A competitor in a heptathlon is referred to as a heptathlete.
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, holding the record for over eleven years. 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.
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.
James Edward "Trey" Hardee III is a retired American track and field athlete who specialized in the combined events. He is a former NCAA Champion, a two-time World Outdoor Champion, a member of the United States 2008 Olympic team, and the silver medalist in the decathlon at the London 2012 Olympics. He was Inducted into the Texas Track and Field Hall of Fame in 2018.
Sten Anders Ekberg is a former decathlon athlete who competed in the 1992 Summer Olympics for Sweden and was a Swedish decathlete National Record holder. Sten Ekberg won the Swedish Championship in both decathlon and heptathlon. Ekberg currently resides in the United States where he works as a chiropractor at his office Wellness For Life in Cumming, Georgia.
Damian David George Warner is a Canadian track and field athlete specializing in decathlon. He is the 2020 Olympic champion and a four-time world medallist. Warner also won the bronze medal at the 2016 Summer Olympics and was the 2014 Commonwealth champion and a two-time Pan American champion from the 2015 and 2019 Games. Competing in the heptathlon, he is the 2022 World Indoor champion.
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.
Kai Kazmirek is a German track and field athlete who competes in the decathlon. He holds a personal best of 8580 points for the event achieved in Rio 2016, as well as an indoor heptathlon best of 6173 points. He is a member of LG Rhein-Wied athletics club.
Zach Ziemek is an American athlete competing in the decathlon. Ziemek won the bronze medal at the 2022 World Championships in Eugene with a personal best score of 8676. In 2021 he finished 6th at the Tokyo Olympics. He represented his country at the 2015 World Championships in Beijing, where he finished 15th. Ziemek finished 7th in the decathlon at the 2016 Olympics.
Paweł Wiesiołek is a Polish athlete competing in the decathlon. He represented his country at the 2015 World Championships in Beijing finishing 17th and competed in the 2016 Summer Olympics.
Mathias Brugger is a German track and field athlete who competes in the decathlon. He was a bronze medallist in the indoor heptathlon at the 2016 IAAF World Indoor Championships. His decathlon personal best is 8009 points, set in 2015.
Karl Robert Saluri is a former Estonian decathlete.
Lindon Victor is a Grenadian athlete who competes in the decathlon. He is the 2023 World and 2024 Olympic bronze medalist and a two-time Commonwealth Games champion (2018–2022).
Johannes Erm is an Estonian decathlete and the reigning European champion.
Garrett Scantling is an American decathlete. He finished fourth at the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo in the decathlon, after winning the US Olympic trials in Eugene, Oregon.
Anna Hall is an American athlete specializing in the combined events. She won the silver medal in the heptathlon at the 2023 World Championships and the bronze medal at the 2022 World Championships. Hall is the North American indoor record holder for the pentathlon.
Sander Aae Skotheim is a Norwegian multi-event athlete. He was a silver medalist in the heptathlon at the 2024 World Athletics Indoor Championships in Glasgow, and the 2023 European Athletics Indoor Championships in Istanbul. In the decathlon he was a silver medalist at the 2024 European Athletics Championships in Rome.
Markus Rooth is a Norwegian track and field athlete. He won the gold medal at the 2024 Summer Olympics in the decathlon, the first gold medal for Norway in this event since 1920. He was also the 2023 European U23 champion.
Jordan Gray is an American track and field athlete. She won the bronze medal in the heptathlon at the 2023 Pan American Games. She is the American national record holder in the decathlon.
