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.
Julia Mächtig is a German heptathlete. She has a personal best of 6430 points for the event.
Yordanis García Barrisonte is a male decathlete from Cuba who competed for his native country at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. The 2005 World Youth champion, he is a two-time medallist at the Pan American Games and has competed at the World Championships in Athletics on three occasions. He is the nephew of Yenima Arencibia.
Larbi Bourrada is an Algerian decathlon athlete. He is the four-time African champion and the African record holder in the event. He has also competed in the pole vault, winning the All-Africa Games title in 2011 and two silver medals at the African Championships. In 2012 his doping sample at a competition came back positive for the banned steroid Stanozolol, and he was given a two-year ban from athletics.
Multistars is an annual international Combined track and field events competition held in Desenzano del Garda, Italy in late April or early May as part of the IAAF World Combined Events Challenge. International athletes compete in the decathlon for men and heptathlon for women. Established in 1988 the meeting took place in Desenzano del Garda until 2012. From 2013 to 2018 the event moved to Luigi Ridolfi Stadium in Florence before it moved once again to Lana. In 2022 the meeting took place at the Stadio Olimpico Carlo Zecchini in Grosseto bevor it moved back in 2023 to its inaugural location, the Stadio Tre Stelle Francesco Ghizzi.
Ahmad Hassan Moussa is a Qatari decathlete. He represented his country at the 2004 Summer Olympics and is a two time Asian Champion in the event.
Carolin Schäfer is a German athlete who specialises in the heptathlon. She won the silver medal in the event at the 2017 World Championships in Athletics. Schäfer took bronze at the 2018 European Athletics Championships.
Nadine Broersen is a Dutch track and field athlete, specializing in the heptathlon and high jump. She was the 2014 World Indoor pentathlon champion. Broersen competes for the track and field club AV Sprint in Breda.
Kurt Felix is a Grenadian athlete who competes in the decathlon. He was the NCAA 2012 Division I Decathlon Champion and was named the Mountain West Men's Outdoor Track and Field Student-Athlete of the Year. He competed at the 2012 Summer Olympics and the 2016 Summer Olympics and won the bronze medal at the 2014 Commonwealth Games. On 24–25 July 2017, Kurt participated in the 21st Stadtwerke Ratingen Mehrkampf-meeting which was part of the IAAF Combined Events Challenge. He placed second at the meet with a score of 8509 points and set a meeting record in the Javelin Throw with a distance of 72.80m.
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.
In 2014 there was no primary outdoor global athletics championship, as neither the Summer Olympics nor the World Championships in Athletics occurred in the year. The 2014 IAAF World Indoor Championships, and the 2014 IAAF Continental Cup were the foremost global events to be held in 2014. The 2014 IAAF World Relays marked the debut of the new international competition exclusively for relay races.
The 2014 IAAF Combined Events Challenge was a series of combined events for decathletes and heptathletes consisting of five stand alone challenge events, a series of continental combined events championships, and the combined events portions of a series of international athletics championships and multi-sports games. The challenge is organised under the auspices of the world governing body of athletics, the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF).
In 2015, the foremost athletics event was the 2015 World Championships in Athletics in Beijing. The two other major global level competitions in 2015 are the World Cross Country Championships and the IAAF World Relays.
Nadine Visser is a Dutch track and field athlete who competed in the combined events until 2017 and specialises in short hurdling since 2018.
The men's decathlon at the 2015 World Championships in Athletics was held at the Beijing National Stadium on 28 and 29 August.
Anouk Vetter is a Dutch track and field athlete who competes in the combined events.
The 2019 IAAF Combined Events Challenge was the 22nd edition of the global series of combined track and field event meetings organised by the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF). It featured decathlon for men and heptathlon for women. A total of eleven meetings were in the 2019 series, starting at the Multistars meet on 27 April and finishing at the 2019 World Athletics Championships on 4 October.
Roman Šebrle (CZE)
Rico Freimuth (GER)
Simon Ehammer (SUI)
Nadine Visser (NED)
Tia Hellebaut (BEL)
Irina Belova (RUS)
