The Battle of the Decathlon Trivia Quiz

The 100 meter sprint, the first event, is a very short race and the quickest of the decathlon events. Having its origins in ancient times, the sprint is one of the main ways of showing athletic prowess. The decathlon is a little different in how it measures the success of the event. Rather than give participants credit for the order of their finish, the decathlon gives points based on the runner's time. So a runner with a time of 10.395 seconds would receive 1000 points, while a runner with 11.278 would receive 800 points. If Usain Bolt's 2009 Berlin time of 9.58 had been part of a Decathlon he would have received 1202 points for his efforts.

Like the sprint, the long jump was part of the ancient Greek pentathlon. The long jump is the second event of the decathlon and allows the athlete three tries to get their longest jump. There is a board or stripe that is used as the start of measuring and the furthest point an athlete can go before jumping. Speed along with the final two steps are the critical part of a successful jump.

The jumper lands in a pit of sand and the distance is measured to where the first place that any part of a jumper, including a uniform, touches the sand.

In the decathlon, a jump of 7.76 meters will give the athlete 1,000 points. Mike Powell's 1991 Tokyo jump of 8.95 meters would have earned 1312 points in a Decathlon.

The shot put is the third event of the decathlon and the first event that was not part of the traditional ancient Greek games. While stone throwing has been a competition since ancient times, the actual shot put was established in the Scottish highlands in the 1800s. Like the long jump, the athlete gets three tries with only their best throw counting towards their score. The shot putter starts in a circle with a 16 pound (7.26 kg) "put" that must be braced against the neck before it is thrown.

Two techniques are generally used for throwing the put the furthest distance. The spin is the most common and accounts for most of the throws by top athletes. The second method is called the glide which allows for a more accurate throw but it is difficult to get as much momentum. In order for a Decathlon athlete to gain 1000 points they must throw the put 18.4 meters. Ryan Crouser's 23.37 meter throw (a new world record), at the 2021 U.S Olympic Trials, would have earned him 1,311 points!

The fourth event of a decathlon is the high jump. The high jump also has its origins in the Scottish highlands in the 19th century. Originally high jumpers would use a scissor-like kick to clear the bar and several variations followed afterward. However, in 1968 Dick Fosbury invented a new type of flop jump to win the Mexico Olympic gold medal.

His technique actually had his back to the bar before jumping and arching over the height with his back clearing first. His technique then became the standard of the sport. To earn 1000 points for the decathlon the jumper needs to clear 2.2 meters. Javier Sotomayor's 1993 leap of 2.45 meters (8 ft 1/4 in), would have earned him 1244 points ... he was the first athlete to clear 8 feet.

The 400 meter is the fifth event of the decathlon and the last event of the first day of competition. While raw maximum speed is critical for success like it is in the 100 meter, the 400 meter also requires stamina. The event is one full lap around the track where the runners have a staggered start and stay in their own lane.

A time of 46.17 would be needed to score 1000 points in this event. Wayde van Niekerk world record time of 43.03 at the 2016 Olympics would have earned him 1164 points.

The 110 meters hurdles race is the first race of the second day and the sixth overall event of the decathlon. The hurdles have a shorter history than many of the events with the first documentation in England around 1830. By the first Olympics, in 1896, they were part of the track and field events. The hurdles are spaced out so that the first hurdle is 45 feet (13.72 meters) from the start line with each of the 10 hurdles being 30 feet (9.14 meters) apart. Each hurdle is 42 inches (106.7 centimeters) tall.

With modern rules, there is no penalty for knocking over a hurdle as the process of doing so slows the runner down already. Typically runners take three steps between each hurdle making it a very rhythmic race. A time of 13.80 seconds is needed for the 1000 points for this event. Aries Merritt ran 12.80 in 2012 time ( a new world record), which would have earned him 1135 points.

The discus is our seventh event of the decathlon and, though it is not a part of the modern pentathlon, it was one of the events of the ancient Greek pentathlon. The ancient Greek statue, Discobolus, displays the ancient field event. However, in modern games, the reintroduction of the discus throw did not happen until the 1870s in Germany. Many of the rules for the discus are similar to the shot put, however, there are no restrictions on throwing form. By far the most common form is to rotate one and one-half times to gain centripetal force. The disks themselves for the professional competition are 2 kg so they are not light!

A throw of 56.17 meters is needed to gain 1000 points in the decathlon. Jurgen Schult's 1986 throw of 74.08 meters (a world record) would have earned him 1383 points. The discus throw is one of the most technically difficult events requiring years of practice to maximize success, and most of the world's best discus throwers are over 30 years of age.

The pole vault is the 8th event of the decathlon and the event that requires by far the most expensive equipment. While pole jumping has been around since ancient times, it typically was more to see how far a person could jump to get over creeks or bogs. The first introduction of the pole vault as it is used in modern track and field was in Germany in the 1850s. Poles originally started out as wood, then bamboo, and then aluminum.

Today's poles are made of specially tailored carbon fibers. Interestingly, the best pole vaulters in the world tend to be gymnasts. A jump of 5.28 meters will give an athlete 1000 points. Armand Duplantis jumped 6.20 metres in 2022 (a world record), which would have earned 1298 points.

The javelin throw is the 9th decathlon event and the fourth and last to be a part of the ancient Greek pentathlon. The final ancient Greek event was a wrestling competition that is not part of the modern pentathlon or decathlon. Interestingly, the javelin throw was the last event to make a competitive modern appearance of the ten events. In the 1880s Finland started having javelin competitions, and in 1908 the javelin made its first Olympic competition. The Scandinavian countries have dominated the javelin throw for most of its history.

Many of the rules around the javelin are designed for safety since it does have a sharp point at the end. The javelin is the only throwing event that allows athletes to get a full running start before throwing, making it an event tailored towards sprinters. To gain the 1000 points a javelin must be thrown 77.19 meters, and the tip must hit the ground first for the throw to count. Jan Zelezny's throw of 98.48 meters in 1996, which won the gold medal in the javelin event, would have earned 1331 points!

The 1500 meters run is the tenth and last event of the decathlon. The race has been a part of every summer Olympic game since 1896. Being just short of a mile, the race requires more aerobic ability than the shorter races of the decathlon. To gain the 1000 points a runner will have to run a fast 3:53.79. For perspective, this would be fifteen 15.5-second 100 meters in a row! Hicham El Guerrouj's 1998 time of 3:26:00 (which won the gold medal in the 1500m final), would have earned him 1218 points.

In 2018, at the European Championships, 26 year old Kevin Mayer of France scored 9126 points! He broke 1000 points in the long jump, the 110 meters hurdles, and the pole vault. He also had three of his personal bests at the competition. His lowest event total was 705 in the 1500 meters at a still fast 4:36.