Decathlon

The decathlon is a ten-event athletic competition that tests athletes' speed, strength, endurance, and technical skill. The decathlon includes a combination of track-and-field events: the 100-meter, 400-meter, and 1500-meter runs; the 110-meter hurdles; the long jump, high jump, and pole vault; and the discus throw, javelin throw, and shot put. Each event in the decathlon has a specific point value, and the person who accrues the most points at the end of the competition wins. Both male and female athletes may participate in decathlons. At the championship level, however, men usually participate in the decathlon, and women participate in the seven-event heptathlon.

The competition has origins in the ancient Greek pentathlon, a five-event athletic contest. The decathlon takes place over the course of two days. Decathletes are considered some of the best all-around athletes in the world because they must excel in several events that require different skills.

Origins and History

The word decathlon comes from the prefix deca–, which means "ten," and athlon, which means "contest." Therefore, its literal translation is "ten contests." The decathlon has roots in ancient Greece with the pentathlon, which included five contests. The pentathlon first appeared at the ancient Olympic Games in 708 BCE and included the following events: discus throw, javelin throw, long jump, running, and wrestling. Historians have debated many details of the pentathlon—including the order of events and the method used to determine a winner—but little agreement has been reached. They have determined, however, that the champion of the decathlon had to win at least three of the five events.

The first modern Olympic Games took place in Athens, Greece, in 1896. The decathlon, however, did not make its official debut at the Olympics until the 1912 Olympics in Stockholm, Sweden. That year, Native American athlete Jim Thorpe won gold in the event. According to sports legend, when Sweden's King Gustav V placed the medal around Thorpe's neck, he deemed Thorpe the "world's greatest athlete." Since then, the "world's greatest athlete" title has been bestowed upon the winner of the Olympic decathlon. American decathlete Ashton Eaton earned the title at both the 2012 and 2016 Olympics. In 2020, Canadian Damian Warner took the gold medal, and in the 2024 Paris games, Norwegian Markus Rooth won the gold.

The women's heptathlon has a shorter history. Like the decathlon, the heptathlon originated with the pentathlon. Women first competed in the pentathlon at the 1964 Olympics in Tokyo. Two additional events were added to create the heptathlon, which debuted at the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles, California. American athlete Jackie Joyner-Kersee set the world record for the heptathlon during the Olympics in 1988, taking home the gold medal. She was also the gold medal winner at the 1992 games in Barcelona. As of late 2024, her world record for the heptathlon still stood.

Some critics disagree with the International Olympic Committee's decision to keep the women's event relegated to a heptathlon instead of a decathlon. In 2024, prior to the Paris Olympic Games, decathlete Jordan Gray started a petition fighting for the women's decathlon in the 2028 Olympic games. Gray was the American record holder and third in the world. She viewed petitioning for the women's event at the games as a way of fighting gender discrimination at the games.

In 2001, the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF), the governing body for international track-and-field competition, approved scoring for a women's decathlon. At both the IAAF World Championships and the Olympic Games, however, the heptathlon remains the primary all-around event for female athletes.

Rules and Regulations

The decathlon takes place over a two-day period. The order of events differs for men's and women's decathlons. For men, the first day of events includes the following: 100-meter run, long jump, shot put, high jump, and 400-meter run. The 100-meter run is a sprint race covering the length of one straightaway on a standard track. The long jump involves running at full speed, jumping from a designated board, and sailing as far as possible through the air before landing in a pit filled with sand. The distance of the jump is measured from the front of the board to the point closest to the board where the athlete touched the sand upon landing. The shot put is a field event that involves launching a shot, a heavy metal sphere, as far as possible. In the high jump, athletes propel themselves over a horizontal bar situated at a specific height without knocking the bar to the ground. The 400-meter run is another sprint race. It requires more endurance than the 100-meter run because it involves running one full lap around a standard track.

The second day of the decathlon includes the remaining five events: 110-meter hurdles, discus throw, pole vault, javelin throw, and 1500-meter run. In the hurdle event, athletes jump ten 3.5-foot-high (1.067-meter-high) hurdles while running at full speed. The discus throw is a field event that involves launching a heavy disk as far as possible. During the pole vault, athletes get a running start and use a pole to hoist themselves over a horizontal bar situated at a designated height without knocking it off. Once they clear the bar, they release the pole, which falls to the ground, and fall onto a soft mat. The javelin throw is a field event that involves throwing a long, thin, pointed metal pole as far as possible. The final event is the 1500-meter run, which, at just shy of a mile, is considered a middle-distance running event. It involves running 3.75 laps around a standard track.

For women, the first day includes the 100-meter run, discus throw, pole vault, javelin throw, and 400-meter run. The second day includes the 110-meter hurdles, long jump, shot put, high jump, and 1500-meter run. At the IAAF World Championships and the Olympics, the heptathlon eliminates or replaces a few events, which occur in a different order. The first day includes the 100-meter hurdles (instead of the 110-meter hurdles), high jump, shot put, and 200-meter run (instead of the 100-meter and 400-meter runs). The second day includes the long jump, javelin, and 800-meter run (instead of the 1500-meter run). The discus throw and pole vault are eliminated.

Decathlon rules and regulations vary, depending on the level of competition. At international meets, athletes follow the IAAF's rulebook. Meets at the national level are guided by USA Track & Field (USATF) rulebook. For college decathlons, the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) sets the rules.

One of the most important rules of the decathlon is that athletes must make an attempt at all ten events. If an athlete does not participate in an event, he or she will not receive a final score and will not be counted in the medal placement. In running events, if any person false starts, the entire field of runners is charged with a false start. A second false start in a race disqualifies the individual athlete. All distance and height measurements for field events are measured in metric units. Athletes have three attempts each in the long jump, shot put, discus throw, and javelin throw. Athletes generally receive at least thirty minutes between the end of one event and the beginning of the next.

Strategy and Tactics

To win the decathlon, athletes must attempt all ten events to receive a final score. Scoring is based on an accrual of points across the ten events. Because some events in the decathlon are measured in time units and others are measured in distance units, however, the scoring is complicated.

The IAAF uses tables to determine scoring in each event. The tables were updated in 1984 under the assumption that world-record performances in each event should receive approximately the same number of points. A target of 8,500 points was set for the decathlon, and a target of 6,500 points was set for the heptathlon. It is possible for athletes to earn more than the targeted amount of points. Points are awarded to athletes based on their numerical performance in each event rather than their finishing position. The value of an athlete's time or distance is plugged into a formula. The formula determines the total amount of points the athlete earns for each event.

For athletes, maintaining a consistent level of performance across events is important. However, exceptional performances in certain events tend to carry more weight than others. In particular, the short-distance running events and the hurdles give athletes their best chance for improving their score.

Professional Leagues and Series

In the United States, USATF is the national governing body for track-and-field, including the decathlon. USATF's member organizations include the NCAA, which regulates college track-and-field, and the National Federation of State High School Associations. USATF works to develop and select athletes who will represent the United States at the international level.

The two main stages for decathletes are the IAAF World Championships and the Summer Olympics. The IAAF World Championships are held every two years, while the Summer Olympics take place every four years. Both venues give decathletes the opportunity to show off their skills before a world audience.

Popularity

According to the IAAF, the World Championships and the Olympic Games are incredibly important to track-and-field athletes, including decathletes. Through these events, decathletes are able to showcase their abilities to full stadiums and a television audience in the billions worldwide. The decathlon draws many spectators simply because the athletes involved must demonstrate incredible determination to compete in such a wide range of events in a relatively short time frame.

Prior to the 1992 Olympic Games, a Reebok marketing campaign made two decathletes, Dan O'Brien and Dave Johnson, very popular. Neither man had yet qualified for the Olympics, but Reebok ad executives had seen both compete at the World Championships. The thought of their competing head-to-head for the gold during the Olympics was marketing magic. Almost overnight, the commercials made "Dan and Dave" household names. In the end, O'Brien failed to qualify for the Olympics. Johnson qualified but was not in top form due to an injury. He managed to clinch the bronze. Still, the ad campaign brought the decathlon and two of its top athletes into the spotlight.

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