Tom Pappas (born September 6, 1976) is an American decathlete.

Early life

Pappas was born in Azalea, Oregon. He graduated from Glendale High School in 1994, and from the

University of Tennessee The University of Tennessee, Knoxville (or The University of Tennessee; UT; UT Knoxville; or colloquially UTK or Tennessee) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Knoxville, Tennessee, United St ...

in 1999.

Career

Pappas is a four-time U.S. champion (2000, 2002, 2003, 2006) and was the 1999

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...

champion while attending the University of Tennessee. Before his time at Tennessee, Pappas also competed in the

Northwest Athletic Conference The Northwest Athletic Conference (NWAC), formerly the Northwest Athletic Association of Community Colleges (NWAACC), is a sports association for community colleges in the U.S. states of Oregon, Washington, and along with the Canadian province ...

for the Lane Titans track and field team. He won the

gold medal A gold medal is a medal awarded for highest achievement in a non-military field. Its name derives from the use of at least a fraction of gold in form of plating or alloying in its manufacture. Since the eighteenth century, gold medals have b ...

at the 2003 World Championships and was rated number 1 in the world that year by '' Track & Field News''. His personal best in the decathlon is 8,784 points while winning the 2003 US Championships held at

Stanford University Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...

. He won the 2003 Jesse Owens Award from

USATF USA Track & Field (USATF) is a United States national governing body for the sports of track and field, cross country running, road running, and racewalking (known as the sport of athletics outside the US). The USATF was known between 1979 and 1 ...

, an award given to the Athlete of the Year. Pappas finished fifth at the 2000 Olympic decathlon. He placed third in the decathlon at the 2008 United States Olympic trials (track and field) in

Eugene, Oregon Eugene ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Lane County, Oregon, United States. It is located at the southern end of the Willamette Valley, near the confluence of the McKenzie River (Oregon), McKenzie and Willamette River, Willamette rivers, ...

, but was unable to complete the decathlon in Beijing due to a

plantar fasciitis Plantar fasciitis or plantar heel pain is a disorder of the plantar fascia, which is the connective tissue that supports the Arches of the foot, arch of the foot. It results in pain in the heel and Sole (foot), bottom of the foot that is usuall ...

injury.

Post-career

Pappas is the co-owner of Lane 5 Crossfit in Eugene, Oregon.

Achievements

Personal bests

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Pappas, Tom 1976 births American male decathletes American people of Greek descent Sportspeople of Greek descent Athletes (track and field) at the 2000 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2004 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2008 Summer Olympics Olympic track and field athletes for the United States Track and field athletes from Oregon People from Douglas County, Oregon Living people World Athletics Championships medalists Goodwill Games medalists in athletics World Athletics Indoor Championships winners World Athletics Championships winners Competitors at the 2001 Goodwill Games NCAA Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championships winners Tennessee Volunteers men's track and field athletes 21st-century American sportsmen 20th-century American sportsmen Lane Titans men's track and field athletes