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Decathlon

  • ️Fri Apr 27 2001
"Decathlete" redirects here. For the video game, see DecAthlete (video game). For other uses, see Decathlon (disambiguation)

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 deka [ten] and αθλος athlos [contest]). 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

Men's decathlon

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.

Day 1
Day 2

Women's decathlon

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

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

Event A B C
100 m 25.4347 18 1.81
Long jump 0.14354 220 1.4
Shot put 51.39 1.5 1.05
High jump 0.8465 75 1.42
400 m 1.53775 82 1.81
110 m hurdles 5.74352 28.5 1.92
Discus throw 12.91 4 1.1
Pole vault 0.2797 100 1.35
Javelin throw 10.14 7 1.08
1500 m 0.03768 480 1.85

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

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

Event 1000 pts 900 pts 800 pts 700 pts Units
100m 10.395 10.827 11.278 11.756 Seconds
Long jump 7.76 7.36 6.941 6.51 Metres
Shot put 18.4 16.79 15.16 13.53 Metres
High jump 2.20 2.10 1.99 1.88 Metres
400m 46.17 48.19 50.32 52.58 Seconds
110m hurdles 13.8 14.59 15.419 16.29 Seconds
Discus throw 56.17 51.4 46.59 41.72 Metres
Pole vault 5.28 4.96 4.63 4.29 Metres
Javelin throw 77.19 70.67 64.09 57.45 Metres
1500m 233.79 247.42 261.77 276.96 Seconds

Records

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

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.

World records (WR) compared to decathlon bests (DB)
Event WR–World record/
DB–Decathlon best		 Athlete Record Score Difference
100m
WR Usain Bolt 9.58 s 1202
DB Chris Huffins 10.22 s 1042 −161
Long jump
WR Mike Powell 8.95 m 1312
DB Erki Nool 8.22 m 1117 −195
Shot put
WR Randy Barnes 23.12 m 1295
DB Edy Hubacher 19.17 m 1048 −247
High jump
WR Javier Sotomayor 2.45 m 1244
DB Rolf Beilschmidt &
Christian Schenk		 2.27 m 1061 −183
400m
WR Michael Johnson 43.18 s 1156
DB Bill Toomey 45.68 s 1025 −131
110m hurdles
WR Dayron Robles 12.87 s 1126
DB Frank Busemann 13.47 s 1044 −82
Discus throw
WR Jürgen Schult 74.08 m 1383
DB Bryan Clay 55.87 m 993 −390
Pole vault
WR Sergey Bubka 6.14 m 1277
DB Tim Lobinger 5.76 m 1152 −125
Javelin throw
WR Jan Železný 98.48 m 1331
DB Peter Blank 79.80 m 1040 −291
1500m
WR Hicham El Guerrouj 3 m 26.00 s 1218
DB Robert Baker 3 m 58.70 s 963 −255
Total World record 12544
Decathlon 10485

National records

  • As of September 19, 2011.
Points Nation Athlete Date Place
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
8490  AUS Jagan Hames 1998-09-18 Kuala Lumpur
8447  NED Robert de Wit 1988-05-22 Eindhoven
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
8200  BEL Hans Van Alphen 2011-09-18 Talence
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 28 August 2011 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

Season's bests

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 (city)
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

Other multiple event contests

References

  1. ^ "Decathlon". Encarta. 2008. http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761574361/decathlon.html. Retrieved 2008-08-06.
  2. ^ World's Greatest Athlete
  3. ^ Athletics at the 2008 Beijing Summer Games: Men's Decathlon. Sports Reference. Retrieved on 2011-05-07.
  4. ^ Waldo E. Sweet, Erich Segal (1987). Sport and recreation in ancient Greece. Oxford University Press. (p37). Retrieved on 2011-05-07.
  5. ^ IAAF Scoring Tables for Combined Events, p. 7.
  6. ^ IAAF Scoring Tables for Combined Events, p. 9.
  7. ^ "Decathlon Records". IAAF. http://www.iaaf.org/statistics/records/inout=o/discType=5/disc=DEC/detail.html. Retrieved 2009-05-09.
  8. ^ IAAF Scoring Tables for Combined Events, p. 10.
  9. ^ Decathlon Records. DECA - The Decathlon Association. Retrieved on 2007-10-21.
  10. ^ a b IAAF Scoring Tables for Combined Events, p. 24.
  11. ^ IAAF Scoring Tables of Athletics - Outdoor - 2008 Edition p. 154.
  12. ^ Decathlon records. IAAF. Retrieved on 2011-05-07.

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