A heptathlon is a

track and field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping eve ...

combined events contest made up of seven events. The name derives from the Greek επτά (hepta, meaning "seven") and ἄθλος (áthlos, or ἄθλον, áthlon, meaning "competition"). A competitor in a heptathlon is referred to as a heptathlete. There are two heptathlons – the men's and the women's heptathlon – composed of different events. The men's heptathlon is older and is held indoors, while the women's is held outdoors and was introduced in the 1980s, first appearing in the

Olympics The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a vari ...

in 1984.

Women's heptathlon

JessicaEnnis 800m Heptatlon London2012 3

Women's heptathlon is the combined event for women contested in the athletics programme of the Olympics and at the World Athletics Championships. The World Athletics Combined Events Tour determines a yearly women's heptathlon champion. The women's outdoor heptathlon consists of the following events, with the first four contested on the first day, and the remaining three on day two: * 100 metres hurdles *

High jump The high jump is a track and field event in which competitors must jump unaided over a horizontal bar placed at measured heights without dislodging it. In its modern, most-practiced format, a bar is placed between two standards with a crash mat f ...

* Shot put *

200 metres The 200 metres, or 200-meter dash, is a sprint running event. On an outdoor 400 metre racetrack, the race begins on the curve and ends on the home straight, so a combination of techniques is needed to successfully run the race. A slightl ...

Long jump The long jump is a track and field event in which athletes combine speed, strength and agility in an attempt to leap as far as possible from a takeoff point. Along with the triple jump, the two events that measure jumping for distance as a ...

* Javelin throw *

800 metres The 800 metres, or meters ( US spelling), is a common track running event. It is the shortest commonly run middle-distance running event. The 800 metres is run over two laps of an outdoor (400-metre) track and has been an Olympic event since th ...

The heptathlon has been contested by female athletes since the early 1980s, when it replaced the

pentathlon A pentathlon is a contest featuring five events. The name is derived from Greek: combining the words ''pente'' (five) and -''athlon'' (competition) ( gr, πένταθλον). The first pentathlon was documented in Ancient Greece and was part of ...

as the primary women's combined event contest (the javelin throw and 800 m were added). It was first contested at the Olympic level in the

1984 Summer Olympics The 1984 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXIII Olympiad and also known as Los Angeles 1984) were an international multi-sport event held from July 28 to August 12, 1984, in Los Angeles, California, United States. It marked the sec ...

. In recent years some women's

decathlon The decathlon is a combined event in athletics consisting of ten track and field events. The word "decathlon" was formed, in analogy to the word "pentathlon", from Greek δέκα (''déka'', meaning "ten") and ἄθλος (''áthlos'', or ἄ ...

competitions have been conducted, consisting of the same events as the men's competition in a slightly different order, and

World Athletics World Athletics, formerly known as the International Amateur Athletic Federation (from 1912 to 2001) and International Association of Athletics Federations (from 2001 to 2019, both abbreviated as the IAAF) is the international governing body fo ...

has begun keeping records for it, but the heptathlon remains the championship-level combined event for women. Nafissatou Thiam, representing Belgium, is the 2020 Olympic Gold Medallist, after successfully defending her 2016 title. She is also the reigning

World Champion A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...

and European Champion. Katarina Johnson-Thompson, representing Great Britain, is the current Commonwealth Champion. Odile Ahouanwanou. Yekaterina Voronina, Kiara Reddingius, Luisarys Toledo and Ariana Ince hold the African, Asian, Oceanian, South American and NACAC (North American, Central American and Caribbean) titles respectively. Adriana Rodríguez, Marthe Koala, Swapna Barman and Elenani Tinai hold the Panamerican Games, African Games, Asian Games and Pacific Games titles respectively. There is also a

Tetradecathlon The tetradecathlon is a 14-event form of athletics. The International Association for Ultra Multievents (IAUM) is in charge of it and runs the World Championships for it alongside the Icosathlon. The event is also called the double heptathlon. Th ...

, which is a double heptathlon, consisting of 14 events, seven events per day.

Points system

The heptathlon scoring system was devised by Dr Karl Ulbrich, a Viennese mathematician. The formulae are constructed so that, for each event, a designated benchmark performance (for example, approximately 1.82 m for the high jump) scores 1000 points. Each event also has a minimum recordable performance level (e.g. 0.75 m for the high jump), corresponding to zero points. The formulae are devised so that successive constant increments in performance correspond to gradually increasing increments in points awarded. The events are split into three groups, and the scores are calculated according to the three formulae: :Running events (200 m, 800 m and 100 m hurdles): ::

P = a \cdot (b - T)^c

:Jumping events (high jump and long jump): ::

P = a \cdot (M - b)^c

:Throwing events (shot put and javelin): ::

P = a \cdot (D - b)^c

''P'' is for points, ''T'' is for time in seconds, ''M'' is for height or length in centimeters and ''D'' is length in meters. ''a'', ''b'' and ''c'' have different values for each of the events, as follows:

Benchmarks

The following table shows the benchmark levels needed to earn 1000, 900, 800 and 700 points in each event.

Women's world records compared with heptathlon bests

Men's heptathlon

The other version is an indoor competition, normally contested by men only. It is the men's combined event in the IAAF World Indoor Championships in Athletics. The men's indoor heptathlon consists of the following events, with the first four contested on the first day, and remaining three on day two: * 60 metres *

long jump The long jump is a track and field event in which athletes combine speed, strength and agility in an attempt to leap as far as possible from a takeoff point. Along with the triple jump, the two events that measure jumping for distance as a ...

* shot put *

high jump The high jump is a track and field event in which competitors must jump unaided over a horizontal bar placed at measured heights without dislodging it. In its modern, most-practiced format, a bar is placed between two standards with a crash mat f ...

60 metres hurdles 60 metres hurdles is a distance in hurdling Hurdling is the act of jumping over an obstacle at a high speed or in a sprint. In the early 19th century, hurdlers ran at and jumped over each hurdle (sometimes known as 'burgles'), landing on both ...

pole vault Pole vaulting, also known as pole jumping, is a track and field event in which an athlete uses a long and flexible pole, usually made from fiberglass or carbon fiber, as an aid to jump over a bar. Pole jumping competitions were known to the M ...

* 1000 metres The scoring is similar for both versions. In each event, the athlete scores points for his performance in each event according to scoring tables issued by the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF).
The athlete accumulating the highest number of points wins the competition.

Benchmarks

The following table shows the minimum benchmark levels required to earn 1000 points in each event.

Men's world records compared with heptathlon bests

All-time top 25

Women

*Heptathlon – women – senior – outdoor
IAAF. Retrieved on 2014-01-25.

Notes

Below is a list of all other scores equal or superior to 6875 pts: * Jackie Joyner-Kersee also scored 7215 (1988), 7158 (1986), 7148 (1986), 7128 (1987), 7044 (1992), 6979 (1987), 6910 (1986), 6878 (1991). * Carolina Klüft also scored 7001 (2003), 6952 (2004), 6887 (2005). * Nafissatou Thiam also scored 6947 (2022). * Jessica Ennis also scored 6906 (2012). *

Sabine Paetz The Sabines (; lat, Sabini; it, Sabini, all exonyms) were an Italic people who lived in the central Apennine Mountains of the ancient Italian Peninsula, also inhabiting Latium north of the Anio before the founding of Rome. The Sabines divide ...

also scored 6897 (1988). * Larisa Nikitina also scored 6875 (1989).

Annulled marks

Tatyana Chernova Tatyana Sergeyevna Chernova (russian: Татьяна Серге́евна Чернова; born 29 January 1988 in Krasnodar) is a Russian former heptathlete. She was originally awarded the bronze medals at the 2008 and 2012 Summer Olympics befor ...

scored 6880 (2011), this performance was annulled due to doping offence.

Men

*Heptathlon – men – senior – indoor
IAAF. Retrieved on 2014-01-25.

Notes

Below is a list of all other scores equal or superior to 6319 pts: * Ashton Eaton also scored 6632 (2014), 6568 (2011), 6499 (2010), 6470 (2016). * Roman Šebrle also scored 6420 (2001), 6358 (2000), 6350 (2004), 6319 (1999). * Kevin Mayer also scored 6392 (2021), 6348 (2018). * Sebastian Chmara also scored 6386 (1999). *

Bryan Clay Bryan Ezra Tsumoru Clay (born January 3, 1980) is an American decathlete who was the 2008 Summer Olympic champion for the decathlon and was also World champion in 2005. Biography Clay was born in Austin, Texas and raised in Hawaii. He is Afro ...

also scored 6365 (2004). * Damian Warner also scored 6343 * Eelco Sintnicolaas also scored 6341 (2013).

Medalists

Women's Olympic medalists

Women's World Championships medalists

Men's World Indoor Championships medalists

Season's bests