38 Fun Facts About Decathlon

Which event traditionally closes the decathlon?

1500 metres: easing off in it in 1984, Daley Thompson seemed to miss the world record by one point, until photo-finish pictures from an earlier race showed he had equalled it.

Which British heptathlete won Olympic gold on home soil at London 2012?

Jessica Ennis-Hill: four years later in Rio she had to settle for silver, beaten by Belgium's Nafissatou Thiam.

The word decathlon combines the Greek for ten with a word meaning what?

Contest or prize: the same Greek root gave English the word athlete, from athlētēs, one who competes for a prize.

Which king first called Jim Thorpe the World's Greatest Athlete in 1912?

Gustav V of Sweden: the phrase stuck, and the Olympic decathlon champion is traditionally hailed as the World's Greatest Athlete.

Olympic champion Jim Thorpe was the first president of which professional sports league?

National Football League: then called the American Professional Football Association, it picked him for his fame, and he kept playing as its biggest draw.

Besides long jump, discus, javelin and a sprint, what was the fifth ancient Greek pentathlon discipline?

Wrestling came last, and needing both strength and speed made pentathletes, in Aristotle's words, the most beautiful athletes.

The 'all-around', a ten-event forerunner of the decathlon, began at which country's amateur championships?

United States: at the 1904 St. Louis Olympics the all-around went to Tom Kiely, who paid his own way and turned down British and American offers to compete for Ireland.

As of 2025, who held the men's decathlon world record, set in 2018?

Kevin Mayer: six years later, a thigh injury ended his hopes of an Olympic title at home in Paris.

The Décastar meeting, where the men's decathlon world record was set in 2018, takes place in which French town?

Talence: Dan O'Brien also broke the world record there in September 1992, months after failing to make the US Olympic team.

The Hypo-Meeting, an annual decathlon and heptathlon meet held each spring, takes place in which Austrian town?

Götzis: Daley Thompson set a world record there in May 1980, but within weeks Guido Kratschmer had beaten it.

Who was the first decathlete to score more than 9,000 points, in 2001?

Roman Šebrle: a career soldier, he was promoted to major by the Czech defence minister after adding Olympic gold in 2004.

Which decathlete won three straight world titles, in 1997, 1999 and 2001?

Tomáš Dvořák: his 1999 world record of 8,994 points fell just six points short of the first 9,000.

As of 2025, Ashton Eaton was the only decathlete to have done what?

Exceeded 9,000 points twice: yet he retired at 28, announcing it on the same day as his wife.

Ashton Eaton married which multi-event athlete, his college teammate, in 2013?

Brianne Theisen: at the 2015 World Championships he won the decathlon while she took heptathlon silver, just missing a golden double.

Glenn Morris, the 1936 Olympic decathlon champion, starred as which fictional hero in a 1938 film?

Tarzan: critics mocked his acting, and after one more small film role Morris left the movie business for good.

Why was Jim Thorpe stripped of his 1912 Olympic titles?

He was paid to play baseball, for Rocky Mount in North Carolina in 1909 and 1910; the IOC restored his medals only after his death.

Which actor played Jim Thorpe in the 1951 film Jim Thorpe – All-American?

Burt Lancaster: Thorpe himself had worked in films mostly as an uncredited extra, usually playing an American Indian in Westerns.

In 1952, Bob Mathias won Olympic decathlon gold and played in which college football game?

The Rose Bowl: on Stanford's way there, he returned a kickoff 96 yards for a touchdown in a 27–20 win over USC.

After his two Olympic golds, Bob Mathias later served in which role?

US Congressman from California: before politics he played himself in The Bob Mathias Story, a film of his own life.

Rafer Johnson's most serious rival at the 1960 Rome Olympics, C. K. Yang, competed for which country?

Taiwan: Yang was stronger in the running and jumping events, but Johnson's big edge in the throws won him the gold.

In 1968, Rafer Johnson helped tackle the assassin of which politician?

Robert F. Kennedy: Johnson and footballer Rosey Grier grabbed the gunman moments after the shooting, and Johnson later lit the 1984 Olympic cauldron.

Bill Toomey, the 1968 Olympic champion, married which British 1964 Olympic long jump champion?

Mary Rand: she won that 1964 gold with a world record, four years after fouling her way to ninth place as the favourite in Rome.

The 1976 Olympic decathlon champion later married into which famous reality-TV family?

The Kardashians: Jenner married Kris Kardashian in 1991, and Keeping Up with the Kardashians later thrust the old champion back into the spotlight.

The 1976 Olympic decathlon champion made a film debut in which 1980 movie starring the Village People?

Can't Stop the Music: a double bill of it and Xanadu inspired John Wilson to found the Golden Raspberry Awards, which named it Worst Picture.

Daley Thompson's great 1980s rival, Jürgen Hingsen, competed for which country?

West Germany: Hingsen never beat Thompson in competition, and at the 1988 Olympics he was disqualified for three false starts in the opening sprint.

Dan O'Brien missed the 1992 Olympics after registering no height in which event at the US Trials?

Pole vault: four years later he made up for it by winning Olympic gold in Atlanta.

The famous Dan and Dave advertising campaign of 1992 was run by which company?

Reebok: its other star, Dave Johnson, made the team and won bronze in Barcelona despite a foot injury.

Damian Warner, the 2020 Olympic champion, is from which country?

Canada: after his Tokyo gold he was chosen as the country's flagbearer for the closing ceremony.

As of 2025, Damian Warner held the decathlon bests in the 100 m and which other event?

110 m hurdles: after the pandemic wiped out his 2020 season, he led the Tokyo Olympic decathlon from start to finish.

Leo Neugebauer set a collegiate decathlon record of 8,836 points competing for which university?

Texas: at the Paris Olympics a year later he led after the first day, but Markus Rooth overtook him to take gold.

Which event opens the women's heptathlon?

100 m hurdles: at the 1996 Olympics Jackie Joyner-Kersee ran it, then withdrew in pain, ending her bid for a third heptathlon title.

Jackie Joyner-Kersee set her 7,291-point heptathlon world record at which Olympic Games?

Seoul: four years after settling for silver in Los Angeles, she won the heptathlon there and added long jump gold at the same Games.

A film about which sportswoman inspired Jackie Joyner-Kersee to take up multi-event athletics?

Babe Didrikson Zaharias: decades later Sports Illustrated for Women named Joyner-Kersee the greatest female athlete of the 20th century, just ahead of her.

As of 2025, the women's decathlon world record of 8,358 points belonged to Austra Skujytė of which country?

Lithuania: she was later lifted to third in the London 2012 heptathlon after bronze medallist Tatyana Chernova was disqualified for doping.

What do decathletes traditionally do together after the decathlon's last event?

A round of honour: every athlete who finishes the decathlon takes part, not just the medallists.

Ashton Eaton was a five-time NCAA champion at which university?

Oregon: when his first coach there, Dan Steele, left, the university hired Harry Marra to keep developing him.

In January 2007, the reigning Olympic decathlon champion was hurt in South African training by what?

A javelin plunged into his shoulder but missed the muscle, so he needed only 11 stitches.

In which city did the Czech 2004 Olympic champion finally win World Championship gold in 2007?

Osaka: Bryan Clay, who had beaten him to the 2005 world title, dropped out injured after four events.