College decathlete competitors pose at the 2009 NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships in Fayetteville, Arkansas, USA.

The decathlon is a combined event in athletics consisting of ten track and field events. The word decathlon is of Greek origin, from δέκα (déka, meaning "ten") and ἄθλος (áthlos, or ἄθλον, áthlon, meaning "feat"). 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.^[1] The decathlon is contested mainly by male athletes, while female athletes typically compete in the heptathlon.

Traditionally, the title of "World's Greatest Athlete" has been given to the man who wins the decathlon. This began when King Gustav V of Sweden told Jim Thorpe, "You, sir, are the world's greatest athlete" after Thorpe won the decathlon at the Stockholm Olympics in 1912.^[2] The current holder of the title is American Bryan Clay, the gold medal winner of the event at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, who took the title from Athens Olympics Czech champion Roman Šebrle.^[3]

The event developed from the ancient pentathlon. Pentathlon competitions were held at the ancient Greek Olympics. Pentathlons involved five disciplines – long jump, discus throw, javelin throw, sprint and a wrestling match.^[4] Introduced in Olympia during 708 BC, the competition was extremely popular for many centuries. By the 6th century BC, pentathlons had become part of religious games. The Amateur Athletic Union held "all around events" from the 1880s and a decathlon first appeared on the Olympic athletics program at the 1904 Games.^[5]

Format[link]

Men's decathlon[link]

The vast majority of international and top level men's decathlons are divided in to a two-day competition, with the track and field events held in the order below. Traditionally, all decathletes who finished the event do a round of honour together after the competition, rather than just the winner or medalling athletes.

Women's decathlon[link]

At major championships, the women's equivalent of the decathlon is the seven-event heptathlon; prior to 1981 it was the five-event pentathlon.^[6] However, in 2001 the IAAF approved scoring tables for women's decathlon; the current world record holder is Austra Skujytė of Lithuania.^[7] Women's disciplines differ from men's in the same way as for standalone events: the shot, discus and javelin weigh less, and the sprint hurdles uses lower hurdles over 100 m rather than 110 m. The points tables used are the same as for the heptathlon in the shared events. The schedule of events differs from the men's decathlon, with the field events switched between day one and day two; this is to avoid scheduling conflicts when men's and women's decathlon competitions take place simultaneously.^[8]

One hour[link]

The one hour decathlon is a special type of decathlon, in which the athletes have to start the last of ten events (1500 m) within sixty minutes after the start of the first event. The world record holder is a Czech decathlete Robert Změlík, who achieved 7897 points at a meeting in Ostrava, Czechoslovakia, in 1992.^[9]

Points system[link]

The 2001 IAAF points tables use the following formulae:^[10]

• Points = INT(A*(B-P)^C) for track events
• Points = INT(A*(P-B)^C) for jumping and throwing events

A, B and C are parameters that vary by discipline, as shown in the table below, while P is the performance by the athlete, measured in seconds (running), metres (throwing), or centimetres (jumping).^[10]

The decathlon tables should not be confused with the scoring tables compiled by Bojidar Spiriev, to allow comparison of the relative quality of performances by athletes in different events. On those tables, for example, a decathlon score of 9006 points equates to 1265 "comparison points", the same number as a triple jump of 18.00 m.^[11]

Benchmarks[link]

Split evenly between the events, the following table shows the benchmark levels needed to earn 1000, 900, 800 and 700 points in each sport.

Records[link]

The current world record holder for the decathlon is Roman Šebrle of the Czech Republic, with his score of 9026 points set in 2001.^[12]

Record	Score	Athlete	Year
World	9026	Roman Šebrle (CZE)	2001
World junior	8397	Torsten Voss (GDR)	1982
Continental records
Africa	8302	Larbi Bouraada (ALG)	2011
Asia	8725	Dmitriy Karpov (KAZ)	2004
Europe	9026	Roman Šebrle (CZE)	2001
North, Central America and Caribbean	8891	Dan O'Brien (USA)	1992
Oceania	8490	Jagan Hames (AUS)	1998
South America	8291	Tito Steiner (ARG)	1983

• Updated 7 May 2011.

Decathlon bests[link]

The total decathlon score for all world records in the respective events would be 12,544. The total decathlon score for all the best performances achieved during decathlons is 10,485.

National records[link]

• As of May 2012.

Points	Nation	Athlete	Date	Place	Ref
9026	CZE	Roman Šebrle	2001-04-27	Götzis
8891	USA	Dan O'Brien	1992-09-05	Talence
8847	GBR	Daley Thompson	1984-08-09	Los Angeles
8832	GER	Jürgen Hingsen	1984-06-09	Mannheim
8815	EST	Erki Nool	2001-08-07	Edmonton
8735	BLR	Eduard Hämäläinen	1994-05-29	Götzis
8730	FIN	Eduard Hämäläinen	1997-08-06	Athens
8725	KAZ	Dmitriy Karpov	2004-08-24	Athens
8709	UKR	Aleksandr Apaychev	1984-06-03	Neubrandenburg
8698	RUS	Grigoriy Degtyaryev	1984-06-22	Kiev
8654	CUB	Leonel Suárez	2009-07-04	Havana
8644	JAM	Maurice Smith	2007-09-01	Osaka
8626	CAN	Mike Smith	1996-05-26	Götzis
8574	FRA	Christian Plaziat	1990-08-29	Split
8573	ISL	Jón Arnar Magnússon	1998-05-31	Götzis
8566	POL	Sebastian Chmara	1998-05-17	Murcia
8554	HUN	Attila Zsivóczky	2000-06-04	Götzis
8526	ESP	Francisco Javier Benet	1998-05-17	Murcia
8519	BEL	Hans Van Alphen	26–27 May 2012	Götzis	[13]
8506	NED	Eelco Sintnicolaas	26–27 May 2012	Götzis	[14]
8490	AUS	Jagan Hames	1998-09-18	Kuala Lumpur
8445	UZB	Ramil Ganiyev	1997-08-06	Athens
8437	LTU	Rišardas Malachovskis	1988-07-02	Staiki
8406	SWE	Nicklas Wiberg	2009-08-20	Berlin
8359	NZL	Simon Poelman	1987-03-22	Christchurch
8334	SUI	Stephan Niklaus	1983-07-03	Lausanne
8320	AUT	Gernot Kellermayr	1993-05-30	Götzis
8302	ALG	Larbi Bouraada	2011-07-17	Ratingen
8291	ARG	Tito Steiner	1983-06-23	Provo
8290	CHN	Qi Haifeng	2005-05-29	Götzis
8288	MDA	Valeri Kachanov	1980-06-21	Moscow
8271	LAT	Janis Karlivans	2007-05-27	Götzis
8266	BRA	Pedro da Silva	1987-04-23	Walnut
8256	SRB	Mihail Dudaš	2011-08-28	Daegu
8213	POR	Mário Aníbal	2001-07-01	Kaunas
8206	ROC	Yang Chuan-Kwang	1963-04-28	Walnut
8199	BUL	Atanas Andonov	1981-06-21	Sofia
8169	ITA	Beniamino Poserina	1996-10-06	Formia
8160	NOR	Benjamin Jensen	1999-08-01	Greve
8146	RSA	Willem Coertzen	2009-08-20	Berlin
8073	JPN	Keisuke Ushiro	2011-06-05	Kawasaki
8069	GRE	Prodromos Korkizoglou	2000-07-02	Ibach
8023	TUN	Hamdi Dhouibi	2005-08-10	Helsinki
7994	DEN	Lars Warming	1988-06-19	Götzis
7882	IRL	Carlos O'Connell	1988-06-05	Emmitsburg
7860	KOR	Kim Kun-Woo	2011-08-28	Gongju
7846	TJK	Igor Sobolevskiy	1982-07-16	Leningrad
7843	ROM	Vasile Bogdan	1975-06-07	Paris
7802	CYP	Yeorgios Andreou	2000-08-12	Volos
7799	SVK	Peter Soldos	2001-06-10	Arles
7777	BAR	Victor Houston	1997-08-06	Athens
7757	TUR	Alper Kasapoğlu	1996-04-19	Azusa
7756	GEO	Juri Dyachkov	1968-06-16	Tbilisi
7755	VIE	Vu Van Huyen	2010-11-25	Guangzhou
7734	VEN	Douglas Fernández	1983-08-27	Caracas
7730	QAT	Ahmad Hassan Moussa	2004-06-27	Ratingen
7711	IRI	Hadi Sepehrzad	2008-07-21	Tehran
7704	PUR	Luiggy Llanos	2003-08-06	Santo Domingo
7698	SLO	Damjan Sitar	2006-05-28	Maribor
7659	CRO	Joško Vlašić	1983-06-25	Izmir
7632	LCA	Dominic Johnson	1998-03-27	Tucson
7614	MEX	Alejandro Cárdenas	1996-05-11	Medellín
7096	ISR	Erez Meltzer	1994-07-31	Markt Schwaben
6943	PAR	Claudio Escauriza	1982-10-12	Asunción

Season's bests[link]

Year	Points	Athlete	Place
2010	8483	Bryan Clay (USA)	Götzis
2009	8790	Trey Hardee (USA)	Berlin
2008	8832	Bryan Clay (USA)	Eugene
2007	8697	Roman Šebrle (CZE)	Kladno
2006	8677	Bryan Clay (USA)	Götzis
2005	8732	Bryan Clay (USA)	Helsinki
2004	8893	Roman Šebrle (CZE)	Athens
2003	8807	Roman Šebrle (CZE)	Götzis
2002	8800	Roman Šebrle (CZE)	Götzis
2001	9026	Roman Šebrle (CZE)	Götzis
2000	8900	Tomáš Dvořák (CZE)	Götzis
1999	8994	Tomáš Dvořák (CZE)	Prague
1998	8755	Dan O'Brien (USA)	Uniondale
1997	8837	Tomáš Dvořák (CZE)	Athens
1996	8824	Dan O'Brien (USA)	Atlanta
1995	8695	Dan O'Brien (USA)	Göteborg
1994	8735	Eduard Hämäläinen (BLR)	Götzis
1993	8817	Dan O'Brien (USA)	Stuttgart
1992	8891	Dan O'Brien (USA)	Talence
1991	8812	Dan O'Brien (USA)	Tokyo
1990	8574	Christian Plaziat (FRA)	Split
1989	8549	Dave Johnson (USA)	Houston
1988	8512	Christian Plaziat (FRA)	Talence
1987	8680	Torsten Voss (GDR)	Rome
1986	8811	Daley Thompson (GBR)	Stuttgart
1985	8559	Torsten Voss (GDR)	Dresden
1984	8847	Daley Thompson (GBR)	Los Angeles
1983	8825	Jürgen Hingsen (FRG)	Bernhausen
1982	8774	Daley Thompson (GBR)	Athens
1981	8334	Rainer Pottel (GDR)	Birmingham
1980	8667	Guido Kratschmer (FRG)	Bernhausen
1979	8476	Guido Kratschmer (FRG)	Krefeld
1978	8493	Guido Kratschmer (FRG)	Bernhausen
1977	8400	Aleksandr Grebenyuk (URS)	Riga
1976	8634	Bruce Jenner (USA)	Montreal
1975	8429	Bruce Jenner (USA)	Eugene
1974	8229	Ryszard Skowronek (POL)	Montreal
1973	8163	Lennart Hedmark (SWE)	Bonn
1972	8466	Mykola Avilov (URS)	Munich

See also[link]

• List of Olympic decathlon medalists
• DecaNation

Other multiple event contests[link]

• Biathlon
• Duathlon
• Triathlon
• Quadrathlon
• Modern pentathlon
• Heptathlon
• Octathlon
• Icosathlon or double decathlon

• Aquathlon
• Chess-boxing
• Nordic combined

References[link]

• "IAAF Scoring Tables for Combined Events". IAAF. April 2004. http://www.iaaf.org/mm/Document/Competitions/TechnicalArea/ScoringTables_CE_744.pdf. Retrieved 2009-05-09. 

External links[link]

• Decathlon points calculator for Iphone
• Team Decathlon website
• A downloadable Excel spreadsheet of multi-event scoring and age grading is available from the creator, Stefan Waltermann

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Decathlon

Medal record
Trey Hardee
Men's athletics
Competitor for  United States
World Championships
Gold	2009 Berlin	Decathlon
Gold	2011 Daegu	Decathlon
World Indoor Championships
Silver	2010 Doha	Heptathlon

James Edward ("Trey") Hardee III (born February 7, 1984, in Birmingham, Alabama) is an American track and field athlete who specializes in the decathlon.

Career[link]

Hardee at the 2009 World Athletics Championships

In 2003, Hardee was 5th at the NCAA Outdoor Championship (7,468) and 3rd at the SEC Championship (7,544).

In 2004, Hardee was 2nd at the NCAA Championship (8,041pts) and 1st at the SEC Championship (7,480 pts).

In 2005, Hardee was 1st at the NCAA Championships (7,881 pts), 1st at Texas Relays (7,839 pts), 5th in the 4x100 m at the Penn Relays (40.23), 2nd in the heptathlon at the Houston Indoor (5,633 pts), 2nd at the Big 12 Championships in the heptathlon (5,723 pts), and 3rd at the NCAA Championships in the heptathlon (5,859 pts).

In 2006, Hardee was 9th at NCAA Outdoors (7,263) and 1st at Texas Relays (8,465 CR).

In 2008, Hardee was the Olympic Trials runner-up (8,534 PR). At the 2008 Summer Olympics, Hardee was in 4th place prior to dropping out following no mark in pole vault. At the Texas Relays, Hardee was 1st (8,371).

At the 2009 World Athletics Championships, in Berlin, Hardee won gold in the decathlon with a points total of 8790, which is his personal record.^[1][2] He was awarded the Jim Thorpe All-Around Award by the United States Sports Academy for his achievements that year.^[3]

At the 2010 IAAF World Indoor Championships, Hardee won a silver medal in the heptathlon finishing behind Bryan Clay. Hardee finished with a points total of 6184, 20 points behind Clay.^[4]

At the 2011 World Championships in Athletics in August, Hardee retained the world decathlon title with a final points tally of 8607, defeating his compatriot Ashton Eaton into second place.^[5]

Personal bests (outdoor)[link]

Last updated August 28, 2011.

PB Decathlon and potential PB[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official website
• IAAF profile for Trey Hardee
• USATF profile for Trey Hardee

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Trey Hardee

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Daley Thompson
CBE

Daley Thompson at the 2007 Laureus Day
Personal information
Nationality	British
Born	(1958-07-30) 30 July 1958 (age 53) Notting Hill, London, United Kingdom
Sport
Sport	Decathlon
Club	Essex Beagles
Achievements and titles
Personal best(s)	Decathlon 8,847 points
Medal record Competitor for  Great Britain Men's athletics Olympic Games Gold 1980 Moscow Decathlon Gold 1984 Los Angeles Decathlon World Championships Gold 1983 Helsinki Decathlon European Championships Silver 1978 Prague Decathlon Gold 1982 Athens Decathlon Gold 1986 Stuttgart Decathlon Bronze 1986 Stuttgart 4x100m Commonwealth Games Competitor for  England Gold 1978 Edmonton Decathlon Gold 1982 Brisbane Decathlon Gold 1986 Edinburgh Decathlon Silver 1986 Edinburgh 4x100m

Francis Morgan Ayodélé "Daley" Thompson CBE (born 30 July 1958),^[1] is a former decathlete from England. He won the decathlon gold medal at the Olympic Games in 1980 and 1984, and broke the world record for the event four times.

With four world records, two Olympic gold medals, three Commonwealth titles, and wins in the World and European Championships, Thompson is considered by many to be the greatest decathlete of all time. Robert Chalmers described him as "the greatest all-round athlete this country [Great Britain] has ever produced."^[2]

Biography[link]

Thompson was born in Notting Hill, London, the second son of a Nigerian father and Scottish mother. His father was a taxi driver who was shot dead in Streatham when Thompson was about twelve. At seven years old Thompson was sent to Farney Close Boarding School, Bolney, Sussex, which he described as "a place for troubled children". Thompson's name is a contraction of Ayodele, a Yoruba word meaning "joy comes home". Thompson's first ambition was to become a professional footballer, but he later switched his interests to athletics.^[2]

Career[link]

Early career[link]

Initially, he was a member of Haywards Heath Harriers, but when he returned to London in 1975 he joined the Essex Beagles club, training as a sprinter. He began to be coached by Bob Mortimer, who suggested he try for decathlon. He competed in his first decathlon later that year in Cwmbran, Wales, which he won along with his next competition. In 1976 he won the AAA title and was 18th at the Montréal Olympic Games. The following year, he won the European Junior title and in 1978 came the first of his three Commonwealth titles. In 1979, he failed to finish in his only decathlon of that year, but won the long jump at the UK Championships.

1980-1986-breaking records[link]

Thompson opened the 1980 Olympic season with a world decathlon record of 8,648 points at Götzis, Austria, in May, and followed this with a comfortable win at the Moscow Olympics. After a quiet 1981 season, he was in devastating form in 1982; back at Götzis in May, he raised the world record to 8,730 points and then in September, at the European Championships in Athens, he took the record up to 8,774 points. The following month in Brisbane, Thompson took his second Commonwealth title. In 1983, Daley won the inaugural World Championships and became the first decathlete to hold the European, World and Olympic titles simultaneously. He spent much of the summer of 1984 in California preparing for the defence of his Olympic title, with Jürgen Hingsen, the West German who had succeeded Thompson as the world record holder, expected to be a major threat. Thompson took the lead in the first event and was never headed throughout the competition, although it seemed that, by easing off in the 1,500 metres he had missed tying the world record by just one point. When the photo-finish pictures were examined, however, it was found that Thompson should have been credited with one more point in the 110 metres hurdles so he had in fact, equalled Hingsen’s record. Then when the new scoring tables were introduced, Thompson became the sole record holder once more with a recalculated score of 8,847 points – a world record that stood until 1992, when it was surpassed by the American athlete Dan O'Brien with a score of 8891. His two victories in the decathlon are a feat shared only with the American Bob Mathias. Thompson's 1984 performance is still the UK record.

1987-1990-defeat and injury[link]

After his Olympic success, Thompson won his third Commonwealth title in 1986 but after that he never quite recaptured the superlative form of earlier years. In 1987 he suffered his first decathlon defeat for nine years when he finished ninth in the World Championships, and at his third Olympics in Seoul in 1988 he finished fourth. He made the Commonwealth Games team for the fourth time in 1990, but was forced to withdraw because of injury

After athletics[link]

Thompson was forced to retire from athletics in 1992, due to a persistent hamstring injury. In the 1990s he played professional football for Mansfield Town and Stevenage Borough F.C., and then worked as fitness coach for Wimbledon F.C. and Luton Town football clubs.^[3] He also took part in motorsport, entering the Ford Credit Fiesta Challenge Championship in 1994.^[4]

Thompson worked as a fitness trainer and motivational speaker, as well as appearing at corporate events. He was also well known for his appearances in commercials for the drink Lucozade in the 1980s. Thompson's name was used for three officially licensed home computer games by Ocean Software in the 1980s: Daley Thompson's Decathlon, Daley Thompson's Supertest, and Daley Thompson's Olympic Challenge.

Thompson is an ambassador for the London 2012 Summer Olympics, focusing during the bid stage on highlighting the benefits that hosting the Olympics would bring to education and sport in schools.^[5] He also took part in the 2011 TV series Jamie's Dream School.^[6]

Rivalry with Jürgen Hingsen[link]

Thompson's rivalry with West German athlete Jürgen Hingsen was legendary in the sport throughout the 1980s. The pair consistently traded world records, but Thompson always had the upper hand in the major events, remaining undefeated in all competitions for nine years between 1979 and 1987.

Public Persona[link]

Thompson was a natural showman who endeared himself to the British public with his irreverent personality, notably when he whistled the British national anthem God Save the Queen with studied insouciance after receiving his gold medal in 1984. Afterwards, he famously sent a message to friends back home via a TV interview, showing his medal and saying "I've got the Big G, boys - the Big G!" Sometimes Thompson's behaviour caused offence, not least when he refused to carry the English flag at the opening ceremony of the 1982 Commonwealth Games, claiming that the effort required participating in the four-and-a-half hour ceremony would reduce his chances of winning his event. He won the BBC Sports Personality of the Year award the same year. Making his acceptance speech during the live broadcast of the programme Thompson uttered an obscenity, which caused media comment. Despite this, he was awarded the MBE in 1982, the OBE in 1986, and the CBE in 2000.

Personal life[link]

Thompson has two children with partner Lisa, and three with ex-wife Trish.^[3]

References[link]

External links[link]

• IAAF profile for Daley Thompson
• Daley Thompson Information Website
• Daley Thompson at sports-reference.com
• 50 Olympic moments - Daley Thompson - can be used to expand article

Records
Preceded by Bruce Jenner	Men's decathlon world record holder 15 May 1980 – 14 June 1980	Succeeded by Guido Kratschmer
Preceded by Guido Kratschmer	Men's decathlon world record holder 23 May 1982 – 15 August 1982	Succeeded by Jürgen Hingsen
Preceded by Jürgen Hingsen	Men's decathlon world record holder 8 September 1982 – 6 June 1983	Succeeded by Jürgen Hingsen
Preceded by Jürgen Hingsen	Men's decathlon world record holder 9 August 1984 – 5 September 1992	Succeeded by Dan O'Brien
Awards and achievements
Preceded by Ian Botham	BBC Sports Personality of the Year 1982	Succeeded by Steve Cram
Preceded by Sebastian Coe	United Press International Athlete of the Year 1982	Succeeded by Carl Lewis

Ashton Eaton

Personal information
Born	(1988-01-21) January 21, 1988 (age 24) Bend, Oregon
Height	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)
Weight	185 lb (84 kg)
Sport
Country	United States
Sport	Track and field athletics
Event(s)	Decathlon, heptathlon
Achievements and titles
Personal best(s)	Decathlon: 8,729 Heptathlon: 6645 (WR)
Medal record Men's athletics Competitor for  United States World Championships Silver 2011 Daegu Decathlon World Indoor Championships Gold 2012 Istanbul Heptathlon

Ashton James Eaton (born January 21, 1988) is an American decathlete, who competes for the Oregon Track Club Elite team based in Eugene, Oregon. He currently holds the world record in the heptathlon.

College career[link]

In 2008, Eaton won the decathlon at the NCAA Men's Outdoor Track and Field Championship.^[1]

In 2009, Eaton defended his decathlon title at the NCAA Championships to win with 8,241 points (wind aided).^[2] He also won the heptathlon title at the 2009 NCAA Indoor Championships with 5,988 points. Eaton won the Division I field athlete of the year award in 2009.^[3]

At the 2010 NCAA Indoor Championships, Eaton broke the heptathlon world record with a score of 6,499, eclipsing Dan O'Brien's 17-year-old mark by 23 points.^[4] In June 2010, he won his third consecutive NCAA decathlon title by finishing first in the decathlon with a personal best of 8,457 points.^[5]

In 2010 Ashton Eaton won The Bowerman, which has been described as the Track and Field version of the Heisman Trophy.

International career[link]

At the 2008 U.S. Olympic Team Trials, Eaton placed fifth overall.^[6]

At the 2009 USA Outdoor Track & Field Championships, Eaton placed second in the decathlon behind Trey Hardee. This earned him a place at the 2009 World Championships in Athletics, in Berlin, where he finished 18th with a points total of 8061.^[7][8]

He improved his own world record in the indoor heptathlon at the International Indoor Combined Events Meeting in Tallinn in February 2011. In spite of under-performing in the high jump he managed a score of 6568 points.^[9]

In August 2011, at the 2011 World Championships in Athletics, Eaton won the silver medal in the decathlon competition with a final points tally of 8505, losing first place to his compatriot Trey Hardee.^[10]

In March 2012, at the 2012 IAAF World Indoor Championships, Eaton won the gold medal in the heptathlon competition with a new world record 6645 winning 5 events (60m, 60m hurdles, long jump, pole vault and 1000m) out of 7, finished third for the rest (high jump and shot put) while beating silver medal winner Oleksiy Kasyanov by 574 points (6071).

Personal bests[link]

Eaton at the 2011 World Athletics Championships

Outdoor[link]

As of April 2, 2012.