Decathlon

The decathlon is a combined event in athletics consisting of ten track and field events. The word decathlon is of Greek origin, from δέκα (déka, meaning "ten") and ἄθλος (áthlos, or ἄθλον, áthlon, meaning "feat"). 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.^[1] The decathlon is contested mainly by male athletes, while female athletes typically compete in the heptathlon.

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Traditionally, the title of "World's Greatest Athlete" has been given to the person who wins the Olympic decathlon. This began when King Gustav V of Sweden told Jim Thorpe, "You, sir, are the world's greatest athlete" after Thorpe won the decathlon at the Stockholm Olympics in 1912.^[2] The current decathlon world record holder is American Ashton Eaton, who scored 9045 points at the 2015 IAAF World Championships.^[3]

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The event developed from the ancient pentathlon. Pentathlon competitions were held at the ancient GreekOlympics. Pentathlons involved five disciplines – long jump, discus throw, javelin throw, sprint and a wrestling match.^[4] Introduced in Olympia during 708 BC, the competition was extremely popular for many centuries. By the sixth century BC, pentathlons had become part of religious games. 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;^[5][6] an all-around was held at the 1904 Summer Olympics, though whether it was an official Olympic event has been disputed.^[7] The modern decathlon first appeared on the Olympic athletics program at the 1912 Games in Stockholm.

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Men's decathlon[edit]

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.

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[edit] At major championships, the women's equivalent of the decathlon is the seven-event heptathlon; prior to 1981 it was the five-event pentathlon.[9] However, in 2001, the IAAF approved scoring tables for a women's decathlon; the current world record holder is Austra Skujytė of Lithuania.[10] Women's disciplines differ from men's in the same way as for standalone events: the shot put, discus and javelin weigh less, and the sprint hurdles uses lower hurdles over 100 m rather than 110 m. The points tables used are the same as for the heptathlon in the shared events. The schedule of events differs from the men's decathlon, with the field events switched between day one and day two; this is to avoid scheduling conflicts when men's and women's decathlon competitions take place simultaneously.[11] 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