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.
Middle-distance running events are track races longer than sprints, up to 3000 metres. The standard middle distances are the 800 metres, 1500 metres and mile run, although the 3000 metres may also be classified as a middle-distance event. The 1500 m came about as a result of running 3+3⁄4 laps of a 400 m outdoor track or 7+1⁄2 laps of a 200 m indoor track, which were commonplace in continental Europe in the 20th century.
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 800 metres, or meters, is a common track running event. It is the shortest commonly run middle-distance running event. The 800 metres is run over two laps of an outdoor (400-metre) track and has been an Olympic event since the first modern games in 1896. During the winter track season the event is usually run by completing four laps of an indoor 200-metre track.
Svetlana Aleksandrovna Masterkova is a Russian former middle-distance runner and former women's world record holder for the mile and the current 1000 metres world record world record. At the 1996 Summer Olympics, she won the gold medal in both the 800 metres and 1500 metres.
The 400 metres, or 400-meter dash, is a sprint event in track and field competitions. It has been featured in the athletics programme at the Summer Olympics since 1896 for men and since 1964 for women. On a standard outdoor running track, it is one lap around the track. Runners start in staggered positions and race in separate lanes for the entire course. In many countries, athletes previously competed in the 440-yard dash (402.336 m)—which is a quarter of a mile and was referred to as the 'quarter-mile'—instead of the 400 m (437.445 yards), though this distance is now obsolete.
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.
Jarmila Kratochvílová is a Czechoslovak former track and field athlete. She won the 400 metres and 800 metres at the 1983 World Championships, setting a world record in the 400 m.
Yekaterina Ilyinychna Podkopayeva is a retired middle-distance runner who represented the USSR and later Russia. She gained international recognition in 1983, when she won two bronze medals at the World Championships. The same year she managed an 800 m time of 1:55.96. She resurfaced in 1992, winning the European Indoor Championships and placing 8th in the Olympics. More victories in European and World Indoor Championships followed until she retired after the 1998 season. When she won the 1500 metres at the 1997 World Indoors, she was 44, the oldest World Indoor champion ever.
Lyubov Mikhailovna Gurina is a retired middle-distance runner who represented the USSR, the Unified Team, and later Russia. Competing mainly in the 800 metres, in 1994 she became the oldest European Champion at the age of 37. In addition, she co-holds the world record in the rarely contested 4 × 800 metres relay, with 7:50.17 set in 1984.
Nijel Carlos Amilfitano Amos is a Botswana middle-distance runner who competes in the 800 metres. He won the silver medal at the 2012 London Olympics, which was Botswana's first ever Olympic medal. Amos claimed gold medals at the 2014 Commonwealth Games and 2015 All-Africa Games. At the African Championships in Athletics, he took golds in 2014, 2016 and 2018.
Agnès Raharolahy is a French athlete specialising in the 400 metres and 800 metres. She won the bronze medal in the 800 m at the 2023 European Indoor Championships. Raharolahy earned five major medals in the 4 × 400 m relays.
India competed at the 2015 World Championships in Athletics from August 22 to August 30 in China, Beijing.
Noel Stanley Clough was an Australian track and field athlete who competed in the 400 metres, 800 metres, and 400 metres hurdles.
David Carr was an Australian masters track and field athlete, known for running middle distance races. He is the current world record holder in the M75 800 metres, the M80 Mile, 2000 metres steeplechase and as a member of the 4x400 metres relay team.
Nagmeldin "Peter" Bol is an Australian middle-distance runner who specialises in the 800 metres. He represented Australia at the 2016 Rio Olympics, placed fourth at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and won the silver medal at the 2022 Commonwealth Games.
Marco Arop is a Canadian track and field athlete competing in the middle distance events. Arop is the reigning world champion in the 800 m, winning gold at the 2023 World Athletics Championship, after winning bronze the previous year at the 2022 World Athletics Championships. He was the first Canadian win a world championship in the 800 m. Arop was also the 2019 Pan American Games champion in 800 m. Arop represented Canada at the 2020 Summer Olympics and he currently holds a personal best of 1:43.24 in the 800 m.
Lore Hoffmann is a Swiss middle-distance runner who specialises in the 800 metres. She finished fourth at the 2022 European Championships and fifth at the 2021 European Indoor Championships.
Keely Nicole Hodgkinson is an English professional middle-distance runner specialising in the 800 metres. At the age of 19, she won the silver medal at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, breaking the British record set by Kelly Holmes in 1995. She is the 2022 and 2023 World Championships and 2022 Commonwealth Games silver medallist, 2022 European champion and a two-time European indoor champion from 2021 and 2023, with her 2021 title secured as the youngest ever European women's indoor 800 m winner.
Brad Mathas is a New Zealand middle-distance runner who specializes in the 800 metres. He is a multiple-time national champion in the 800 metres and represented New Zealand at the World Athletics Championships and the Commonwealth Games.
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