Decathlon

The decathlon is a combined event in athletics consisting of 10 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 ἄθλον, ''áthlon'', meaning "contest" or "prize"). 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. 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 person who wins the decathlon. This began when Gustav V of Sweden told Jim Thorpe, "Sir, you are the world's greatest athlete" after Thorpe won the decathlon at the Stockholm Olympics in 1912.

The event is similar to the pentathlon held at the ancient Greek Olympics,Waldo E. Sweet, Erich Segal (1987).
Sport and recreation in ancient Greece
'. Oxford University Press. (p37). Retrieved on 7 May 2011. and also similar to a competition called an "all-around", which was contested at the United States amateur championships in 1884. Another all-around was held at the 1904 Summer Olympics. The modern decathlon first appeared at the 1912 Games.

In modern athletics, the 10 events are: 100 metres, 400 metres, 1500 metres, 110 metre hurdles, long jump, high jump, pole vault, discus throw, javelin throw, and shotput. The current official decathlon world record holder is French athlete Kevin Mayer, who scored a total of 9,126 points at the 2018 Décastar in France.

Historical background

The decathlon developed from the ancient pentathlon competitions held at the ancient Greek Olympics. Pentathlons involved five disciplines – long jump, discus throw, javelin throw, sprint and a wrestling match. Introduced in Olympia during 708 BC, this competition was extremely popular for many centuries.

A ten-event competition known as the "all-around" or "all-round" championship, similar to the modern decathlon, was first contested at the United States amateur championships in 1884 and reached a consistent form by 1890. While an all-around event was held at the 1904 Summer Olympics, whether it was an official Olympic event has been disputed.

The modern decathlon first appeared in the Olympic athletics program at the 1912 Games in Stockholm.

Format

Men's decathlon

The vast majority of international and top-level men's decathlons are divided into a two-day competition, with the track and field events held in the order below. Traditionally, all decathletes who finish the event, rather than just the winner or medal-winning athletes, do a round of honour together after the competition. The current world record holder is Kevin Mayer from France with 9126 points which he set on September 16, 2018, in Talence, France.

; Day 1
* 100 metres
* Long jump
* Shot put
* High jump
* 400 metres

;Day 2
* 110 metres hurdles
* Discus throw
* Pole vault
* Javelin throw
* 1500 metres

Women's decathlon

At major championships, the women's equivalent of the decathlon is the seven-event heptathlon; before 1981 it was the five-event pentathlon. However, in 2001, the IAAF (now World Athletics) approved scoring tables for a women's decathlon; the current world record holder is Austra Skujytė of Lithuania, with 8,358. 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 use lower hurdles over 100 m rather than 110 m. The points tables used are the same as for the heptathlon in the shared events. In some women's decathlon competitions, the schedule differs from the men's decathlon, with the field events switched between day one and day two. This rule was initially instituted to avoid scheduling conflicts when men's and women's decathlon competitions take place simultaneously, however by 2024 the rule was revised to allow conducting the women's decathlon using the men's event order. The inaugural Women's Decathlon World Championships used the men's ordering of events.

; Women's decathlon reversed field event order (optional)

; Day 1
* 100 metres
* Discus throw
* Pole vault
* Javelin throw
* 400 metres

;Day 2
* 100 metres hurdles
* Long jump
* Shot put
* High jump
* 1500 metres

One hour

The 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 of the start of the first event. The world record holder is Czech decathlete Robert Změlík, who achieved 7,897 points at a meeting in Ostrava, Czechoslovakia, in 1992.

Masters athletics

In Masters athletics, performance scores are age graded before being applied to the standard scoring table. This way, marks that would be competitive within an age division can get rated, even if those marks would not appear on the scale designed for younger age groups. Additionally, like women, the age divisions use different implement weights and lower hurdles. Based on this system, German Rolf Geese in the M60 division and American Robert Hewitt in the M80 divisions have set their respective world records over 8,000 points. Using the same scale, Nadine O'Connor scored 10,234 points in the W65 division, the highest decathlon score ever recorded.

Points system

The 2001 IAAF points tables use the following formulae:IAAF Scoring Tables for Combined Events, p. 24.
* Points = for track events (faster time produces a higher score)
* Points = for field events (greater distance or height produces a higher score)

, , and are parameters that vary by discipline, as shown in the adjacent table, while is the performance by the athlete, measured in seconds (running), metres (throwing), or centimetres (jumping).

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 9,006 points equates to 1,265 "comparison points", the same number as a triple jump of 18 m.

Benchmarks

Split evenly between the events, the following table shows the benchmark levels needed to earn 1,000, 900, 800, and 700 points in each sport.

Calculator

Records

The official decathlon world record holder is Kevin Mayer of France, with a score of 9,126 points set during the 2018 Décastar in Talence, France, which was ratified by World Athletics.

The previous record from Ashton Eaton (9,045 points):

Decathlon bests

The total decathlon score for all world records in the respective events would be 12,670. The total decathlon score for all the best performances achieved during decathlons is 10,669. The ''Difference'' column shows the difference in points between the decathlon points that the individual current world record would be awarded and the points awarded to the current decathlon record for that event. The relative differences in points are much higher in throwing events than in running and jumping events.

Decathlon bests are only recognized when an athlete completes the ten-event competition with a score of over 7,000 points.

All-time top 25 men

*Correct as of June 2025.Decathlon – men – senior – outdoor
IAAF. Retrieved on 25 January 2014.

Notes

Below is a list of other scores equal or superior to 8750 pts:
* Ashton Eaton also scored 9039 (2012), 8893 (2016), 8809 (2013) and 8750 (2016).
* Damian Warner also scored 8995 (2021), 8804 (2023), 8797 (2022) and 8795 (2018).
* Tomáš Dvořák also scored 8902 (2001), 8900 (2000) and 8837 (1997).
* Roman Šebrle also scored 8893 (2004), 8807 (2003), 8800 (2002) and 8757 (2000).
* Leo Neugebauer also scored 8836 (2023) and 8748 (2024).
* Kevin Mayer also scored 8834 (2016), 8816 (2022) and 8768 (2017).
* Dan O'Brien also scored 8824 (1996), 8812 (1991) and 8755 (1998).
* Bryan Clay also scored 8791 (2008).
* Tom Pappas also scored 8750 (2003).

All-time top performances women ≥ 8,000 pts

*Correct as of September 2023.

Notes

Below is a list of other scores equal or superior to 8000 pts:
* Austra Skujytė also scored 8091 pts (2006).

Competitions

Olympic medalists

World Championships medalists

Men

Women

Continental competitions

* African Combined Events Championships
* European Cup Combined Events
* Oceania Combined Events Championships
* Pan American Combined Events Cup

Other

* IAAF Combined Events Challenge
** Multistars
** Hypo-Meeting
** TNT - Fortuna Meeting
** Erdgas Mehrkampf-Meeting
** Décastar

Season's bests

National records

*Updated 4 June 2025.

Equal or superior to 8,000 pts:

Under-20 records

The world decathlon under-20 record is held by Niklas Kaul, of Germany, who scored 8,435 points at the European U20 Championships in Grosseto, Italy, from 22 to 23 July 2017.

The world decathlon under-20 record using senior implements is held by Torsten Voss, of East Germany, who scored 8,397 points in Erfurt, East Germany, from 6–7 July 1982. This was the last record to be ratified because it is no longer a World Athletics under-20 record event.

Key:


NWI = No Wind Indication

Key:


+ = Senior implements


* = 6-kg shot, 1.067-m hurdles, 1.75-kg discus


A = Altitude (over 1,000 m)

Decathlon under-20 bests

(Within a completed decathlon scoring more than 7,000 points)

Other multiple event contests

* Aquathlon
* Biathlon
* Chess-boxing
* CrossFit Games
* Duathlon
* Heptathlon
* Icosathlon or double decathlon
* Modern pentathlon
* Nordic combined
* Octathlon
* Omnium
* Quadrathlon
* Triathlon

See also

*

Explanatory notes

References

*

External links

IAAF decathlon homepage

IAAF list of decathlon records in XML

Team Decathlon website

Decathlon splits of Olympic, World and European medalists
* A downloadable Excel spreadsheet of multi-event scoring and age grading is available fro
the creator, Stefan Waltermann

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Combined track and field events
Endurance games
Events in track and field
Individual sports
Men's athletics
Summer Olympic disciplines in athletics