50 Fun Facts About Decathlon

Over how many consecutive days is a decathlon held?

Five events are held each day, and the winner is decided on points rather than placings.

Which event traditionally closes the decathlon?

The first day ends with the 400 metres; day two runs hurdles, discus, pole vault, javelin and then the 1500.

Which of these is NOT one of the ten decathlon events?

The 200 metres belongs to the women's heptathlon; the decathlon's sprints are the 100 and 400.

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

It was coined by analogy with pentathlon, the five-event contest of the ancient Games.

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

Thorpe reportedly replied simply, Thanks, King.

The modern decathlon first appeared at which Olympic Games?

A ten-event all-around had been held at the 1904 Games, but its official status is disputed.

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

The five-event contest stayed popular at the ancient Games for centuries.

The decathlon-like ten-event all-around was first contested at the US amateur championships in which year?

It reached a consistent form by 1890 and an all-around was also held at the 1904 Olympics.

What is the men's decathlon world record score, set by Kevin Mayer in 2018?

He set it at the Décastar in Talence and is the third man to pass 9,000; the other three scores were all earlier world records.

The Décastar meeting where Kevin Mayer set his world record takes place in which French town?

Dan O'Brien also set a world record there in 1992, and Marie Collonvillé set the women's decathlon record there in 2004.

The Hypo-Meeting, the sport's most famous annual combined events meet, is held in which Austrian town?

Daley Thompson set two world records there, and the first 9,000-point decathlon was scored there in 2001.

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

The Czech, originally a high jumper, scored 9,026 and held the record for over eleven years.

Tomáš Dvořák is the only decathlete to have done what three times?

He was world champion in 1997, 1999 and 2001 and set an 8,994 world record in Prague in 1999.

Ashton Eaton is the only decathlete to have done what?

He scored 9,039 in 2012 and 9,045 in 2015, and won Olympic gold in London and Rio.

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

Both had competed at the London Olympics a year earlier.

Jim Thorpe won two gold medals at the 1912 Olympics, in the decathlon and which other event?

He was the first Native American to win Olympic gold for the United States and later played pro football, baseball and basketball.

Why was Jim Thorpe stripped of his 1912 Olympic titles?

The IOC restored his medals in 1983, thirty years after his death, and in 2022 made him sole champion again.

Jim Thorpe won his 1912 decathlon gold wearing what?

Someone had stolen his shoes just before he was due to compete.

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

Thorpe himself appeared in several films after his sporting career.

Bob Mathias won the 1948 Olympic decathlon at what age, becoming the youngest track and field gold medallist?

He had taken up the event only months earlier and nearly fouled out of the shot put because he did not know the rules.

After his two Olympic golds, Bob Mathias served four terms in what role?

He was a Republican member of the House of Representatives from 1967 to 1975 and also acted in films.

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

The two were UCLA training partners; Johnson won gold by 58 points.

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

He, footballer Rosey Grier and writer George Plimpton grabbed Sirhan Sirhan moments after the shooting; Johnson later lit the 1984 Olympic cauldron.

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

Toomey's 45.68 for 400 m in Mexico City stood as the decathlon best for 47 years.

The 1976 Olympic decathlon champion, then known as Bruce Jenner, set what world-record score in Montreal?

It was a third successive world record, and a Wheaties box cover followed in 1977.

The 1976 Olympic champion played college football for which team before a knee injury led to the decathlon?

Coach L. D. Weldon persuaded the future champion to try the decathlon.

Daley Thompson won Olympic decathlon gold at which two Games?

He broke the world record four times and went nine years unbeaten.

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

In 1984 a re-examined photo finish gave Thompson an extra hurdles point, meaning he had equalled Hingsen's world record.

Daley Thompson's first name is a contraction of a Yoruba word meaning what?

His father was British Nigerian and his mother Scottish; he was born in Notting Hill in 1958.

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

It embarrassed Reebok, whose Dan and Dave campaign had built the whole summer around him; he won gold in Atlanta four years later.

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

The Dave was Dave Johnson, the Goodwill Games champion, who went on to win bronze in Barcelona.

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

He holds the Olympic record and, at 9,018 points, the fourth-highest score in history.

Damian Warner holds the decathlon bests in the 100 m and which other event?

His marks are 10.12 and 13.27; he formerly held the long jump best at 8.28 m.

Kevin Mayer won Olympic silver medals at which two Games?

He was world champion in 2017 and 2022 and finished 15th on his Olympic debut in London.

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

He won Olympic silver in Paris in 2024 and the world title in Tokyo in 2025.

At major championships, the women's equivalent of the decathlon has how many events?

The heptathlon replaced the five-event pentathlon in 1981 and made its Olympic debut in 1984.

Which event opens the women's heptathlon?

Day one runs hurdles, high jump, shot put and 200 m; day two is long jump, javelin and 800 m.

Jackie Joyner-Kersee's heptathlon world record of 7,291 points was set at which Olympics?

It still stands; she also won long jump gold at the same Games.

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

She was named after Jacqueline Kennedy and grew up in East St. Louis, Illinois.

The women's decathlon world record of 8,358 points is held by Austra Skujytė of which country?

World Athletics approved women's decathlon scoring tables in 2001, with lighter implements and 100 m hurdles.

In the one-hour decathlon, the tenth event must start within how long of the first event's start?

The format's world record of 7,897 points was set in Ostrava in 1992.

What do decathletes traditionally do together after the final event?

Everyone who finishes takes part, not just the medallists, a reflection of the event's camaraderie.

The ancient Greek pentathlon that inspired the decathlon was introduced at Olympia in which year?

The five-discipline contest stayed popular for centuries; the ten-event decathlon did not reach the Olympics until 1912.

Who holds the one-hour decathlon world record of 7,897 points, set in Ostrava in 1992?

In the one-hour format all ten events, ending with the 1500 m, must begin inside a single hour.

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

He won The Bowerman award in 2010 and later competed for the Oregon Track Club Elite in Eugene.

In which year did Ashton Eaton announce his retirement from athletics?

He had defended his Olympic title in Rio the previous summer, tying the Olympic record.

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

Thrown by Sunette Viljoen from 55 metres away, it pierced his right shoulder 12 cm deep; he later said he was 20 cm from being killed.

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

He had taken silver at the two previous editions in Paris and Helsinki, and was promoted to major by the Czech defence minister after his Athens win.

How many World Championship decathlon titles in a row did Dan O'Brien win in the 1990s?

He won in 1991, 1993 and 1995 before finally adding Olympic gold in Atlanta in 1996; his 1992 world record was 8,891 points.

For how many years did Daley Thompson go unbeaten in decathlon competition?

The run ended with a ninth-place finish at the 1987 World Championships; he then placed fourth at his fourth Olympics in Seoul.