Decathlon
The etymology already harks back to ancient Greece and the pentathlon roots of the ancient Olympic Games.
In the five-ring program, on the other hand, the decathlon made its entry in Stockholm in 1912 with the modern ten-race format. Five of these take place on the first day: 100 meters, long jump, shot put, high jump and 400 meters. The remaining five compete on the following day: 110 hurdles, discus throw, pole vault, javelin throw and 1,500 meters. Each athlete, based on the table that translates performance value into points, cashes in his or her score after each race. The one who accumulates the most wins.
In the Olympics, World and European Championships program, the decathlon is the men’s version of the multiple events (the heptathlon the women’s), while in the indoor activity, the men’s discipline of choice is the heptathlon, which consists of seven events.
Getting passionate about a race as if it were a TV series, episode after episode.
Two full days of competition: on the first day: 100 meters, long jump, shot put, high jump and 400 meters; on the second day 110 hurdles, discus throw, pole vault, javelin throw and 1,500 meters.
One challenge after another, point by point, to decree the iron man, the most complete, the athlete who can best express himself in all specialties and in each of the gestures of athletics: the running, the jumping, the throwing. It’s a superhero game, the decathlon. Strength, technique, endurance.
It doesn’t matter to specialize. Knowing how to do everything to the best of one’s ability counts.
The world record belongs to Frenchman Kevin Mayer, who set it right at home in Talence in September 2018, scoring 9126 points, the result of extreme consistency and three 1,000-plus point performances (7.80 in the long, 13.75 in the 110hs, 5.45 in the pole).
Only four men in history have passed the magic threshold of 9,000 points. The first was Czech Roman Sebrle who broke the barrier in 2001 with 9026 points. The others are precisely record-holder Mayer able to bring the record back to Europe by snatching it from U.S. legend Ashton Eaton (9045), the third to win two Olympic titles in a row, in London and Rio, after American Bob Mathias and Briton Daley Thompson. The latest entry into the +9000 club, that of reigning Olympic gold medalist, Canadian Damian Warner, 9018 points at the Tokyo Games.
For the purposes of the regulations, the rules governing the various specialties are generally followed, with some exceptions: for example, in the 100 meters and 110hs you are not eliminated at the first false start but at the second, or in the long, weight, discus and javelin you are not given six trials but three. As for wind, the average in the three specialties in which it is detected (100, long, 110hs) must not exceed +2.0 m/s.
It was in Rome, at the 1960 Olympics, that one of the most exciting and reenacted duels in decathlon history took place, that between Rafer Johnson of the United States and Yang Chuan-kwang of Taipei, China. Won the Texan, the first African American U.S. flag bearer, then an actor in Hollywood in the 007 film “Licence to Kill” and in other films with Elvis Presley and Frank Sinatra. A friend and bodyguard of Robert Kennedy, he was a direct witness to his assassination in Los Angeles in ’68.
The etymology already harks back to ancient Greece and the pentathlon roots of the ancient Olympic Games. In the five-ring program, on the other hand, the decathlon made its entry in Stockholm in 1912 with the modern ten-race format. Five of these take place on the first day: 100 meters, long jump, shot put, high jump and 400 meters. The remaining five compete on the following day: 110 hurdles, discus throw, pole vault, javelin throw and 1,500 meters. Each athlete, based on the table that translates performance value into points, cashes in his or her score after each race. The one who accumulates the most wins.
In the Olympics, World and European Championships program, the decathlon is the men’s version of the multiple events (the heptathlon the women’s), while in the indoor activity, the men’s discipline of choice is the heptathlon, which consists of seven events.
Getting passionate about a race as if it were a TV series, episode after episode.
Two full days of competition: on the first day: 100 meters, long jump, shot put, high jump and 400 meters; on the second day 110 hurdles, discus throw, pole vault, javelin throw and 1,500 meters.
One challenge after another, point by point, to decree the iron man, the most complete, the athlete who can best express himself in all specialties and in each of the gestures of athletics: the running, the jumping, the throwing. It’s a superhero game, the decathlon. Strength, technique, endurance.
It doesn’t matter to specialize. Knowing how to do everything to the best of one’s ability counts.
The world record belongs to Frenchman Kevin Mayer, who set it right at home in Talence in September 2018, scoring 9126 points, the result of extreme consistency and three 1,000-plus point performances (7.80 in the long, 13.75 in the 110hs, 5.45 in the pole).
Only four men in history have passed the magic threshold of 9,000 points. The first was Czech Roman Sebrle who broke the barrier in 2001 with 9026 points. The others are precisely record-holder Mayer able to bring the record back to Europe by snatching it from U.S. legend Ashton Eaton (9045), the third to win two Olympic titles in a row, in London and Rio, after American Bob Mathias and Briton Daley Thompson. The latest entry into the +9000 club, that of reigning Olympic gold medalist, Canadian Damian Warner, 9018 points at the Tokyo Games.
For the purposes of the regulations, the rules governing the various specialties are generally followed, with some exceptions: for example, in the 100 meters and 110hs you are not eliminated at the first false start but at the second, or in the long, weight, discus and javelin you are not given six trials but three. As for wind, the average in the three specialties in which it is detected (100, long, 110hs) must not exceed +2.0 m/s.
It was precisely in Rome, at the 1960 Olympics, that one of the most exciting and reenacted duels in the history of the decathlon took place, that between Rafer Johnson of the United States and Yang Chuan-kwang of Taipei, China. Won the Texan, the first African American U.S. flag bearer, then an actor in Hollywood in the 007 film “Licence to Kill” and in other films with Elvis Presley and Frank Sinatra. A friend and bodyguard of Robert Kennedy, he was a direct witness to his assassination in Los Angeles in ’68.