| Combined events at theOlympic Games | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Men competing in the 1500 m of the 1948 Olympic decathlon | |
| Overview | |
| Sport | Athletics |
| Gender | Men and women |
| Years held | Men's decathlon:1912 –2024 Women's heptathlon:1984 –2024 Women's pentathlon:1964 –1980 |
| Olympic record | |
| Men | 9018 ptsDamian Warner (2020) |
| Women | 7291 ptsJackie Joyner-Kersee (1988) |
| Reigning champion | |
| Men |  Markus Rooth (NOR) |
| Women |  Nafissatou Thiam (BEL) |
Combined events at the Summer Olympics have been contested in several formats at themulti-sport event. There are two combinedtrack and field events in the currentOlympic athletics programme: a men'sdecathlon (100 metres,long jump,shot put,high jump,400 metres,110 metres hurdles,discus throw,pole vault,javelin throw, and1500 metres) and a women'sheptathlon (100 metres hurdles, high jump, shot put,200 metres, long jump, javelin throw, and800 metres).
The first men's events came at the1904 Summer Olympics: a triathlon hadlong jump,shot put, and100-yard dash events, while an all-around championship saw athletes compete over ten events, forming the basis for the decathlon.[1] No combined events were held at the subsequent games, but the1912 Summer Olympics saw the introduction of the modern decathlon event and also a men's pentathlon (which lasted for three games). The first women's event came in1964 in the form of thewomen's pentathlon. This was amended to include two more events, becoming the heptathlon at the1984 Summer Olympics, reflecting the development of women's sport.
TheOlympic record in the decathlon is 9018 points, set by Canadian athleteDamian Warner in 2021.Jackie Joyner-Kersee's score of 7291 points to win in 1988 is both the current Olympic andworld record for the heptathlon – this remains the only occasion that record has been broken at the Olympics. The men'sdecathlon world record has had a strong link with the competition, with the Olympic gold medalist breaking the world record in 1928, 1932, 1936, 1952, 1972, 1976, and 1984.[2]
Five men have won two Olympic combined event titles.Bob Mathias,Daley Thompson andAshton Eaton have all won back-to-back decathlon titles,Jim Thorpe won both the decathlon and pentathlon titles in 1912, andEero Lehtonen won two Olympic pentathlon titles.Nafissatou Thiam is the most successful athlete, having won three Olympic heptathlon titles, she is, alongside Jackie Joyner-Kersee, the only one with three Olympic combined events medals.
In 1912, Thorpe was designated the "World's Greatest Athlete" byGustav V of Sweden and this title is traditionally given to the reigning Olympic decathlon champion in the media.[3][4] Thorpe's two gold medals were stripped in 1913 on the grounds that he had brokenamateurism rules (having taken expense money for playing baseball), but theInternational Olympic Committee restored him as the champion in 1982, 30 years after his death, admitting that the protest against Thorpe’s eligibility was not brought within the required 30 days (other medalists were not demoted).[5]
The1906 Intercalated Games, now not considered an official Olympic event, featured an event based on theAncient Olympic pentathlon, combining four track and field events with a wrestling match.
| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Olympics | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1= | Bob Mathias |  United States (USA) | 1948–1952 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 1= | Daley Thompson |  Great Britain (GBR) | 1980–1984 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 1= | Ashton Eaton | United States (USA) | 2008–2016 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 4= | Milt Campbell | United States (USA) | 1952–1956 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| 4= | Rafer Johnson | United States (USA) | 1956–1960 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| 4= | Roman Šebrle |  Czech Republic (CZE) | 2000–2004 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| 4= | Bryan Clay | United States (USA) | 2004–2008 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| 8= | Mykola Avilov |  Soviet Union (URS) | 1972–1976 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| 8= | Damian Warner |  Canada (CAN) | 2016–2020 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| 10= | Akilles Järvinen |  Finland (FIN) | 1928–1932 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| 10= | Kevin Mayer |  France (FRA) | 2016–2020 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| 12 | Hans-Joachim Walde |  West Germany (FRG) United Team of Germany (EUA) | 1964–1968 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 13= | Floyd Simmons | United States (USA) | 1948–1952 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| 13= | Vasili Kuznetsov | Soviet Union (URS) | 1956–1960 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| 13= | Leonel Suárez |  Cuba (CUB) | 2008–2012 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| Rank | Nation | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | United States (USA) | 14 | 8 | 7 | 29 |
| 2= | Great Britain (GBR) | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 2= | Norway (NOR) | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 4 | Soviet Union (URS) | 1 | 3 | 4 | 8 |
| 5 | Germany (GER)[nb] | 1 | 2 | 2 | 5 |
| 6 | Finland (FIN) | 1 | 2 | 0 | 3 |
| 7 |  Sweden (SWE) | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 |
| 8 | Czech Republic (CZE) | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| 9 |  East Germany (GDR) | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| 10 | Canada (CAN) | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3 |
| 11 |  Estonia (EST) | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| 12 | Czechoslovakia (TCH) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 13 | West Germany (FRG) | 0 | 3 | 2 | 5 |
| 14 | France (FRA) | 0 | 3 | 0 | 3 |
| 15= |  Belarus (BLR) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 15= |  Chinese Taipei (TPE) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 15= |  Spain (ESP) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 18 | Cuba (CUB) | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| 19= |  Kazakhstan (KAZ) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 19= |  Poland (POL) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 19= |  Australia (AUS) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 19= |  Grenada (GRN) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
Seven women have won multiple medals in Olympic heptathlon, while an eighth achieved this feat in the earlier Olympic Pentathlon. Of these, onlyJackie Joyner-Kersee andNafissatou Thiam have won three medals. OnlyNafissatou Thiam won three titles.
| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Olympics | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Nafissatou Thiam | Belgium (BEL) | 2016–2024 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| 2 | Jackie Joyner-Kersee | United States (USA) | 1984–1992 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 3 |
| 3 | Jessica Ennis | Great Britain (GBR) | 2012–2016 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| 4 | Denise Lewis | Great Britain (GBR) | 1996–2000 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| 5= | Natallia Sazanovich | Belarus (BLR) | 1996–2000 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| Austra Skujytė |  Lithuania (LTU) | 2004–2012 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| 7 | Kelly Sotherton | Great Britain (GBR) | 2004–2008 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| [b] | Burglinde Pollak | East Germany (GDR) | 1972–1976 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| Rank | Nation | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Belgium (BEL) | 3 | 0 | 1 | 4 |
| 2 | Great Britain (GBR) | 2 | 2 | 3 | 7 |
| 3 | United States (USA) | 2 | 2 | 0 | 4 |
| 4= | Australia (AUS) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 4= | Sweden (SWE) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 4= |  Syria (SYR) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 4= |  Ukraine (UKR) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 8= |  Russia (RUS) | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 8= | Belarus (BLR) | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 8= | East Germany (GDR) | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 8= | Germany (GER) | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 8= | Lithuania (LTU) | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 8= |  Netherlands (NED) | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 14 |  Unified Team (EUN) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 15= | Canada (CAN) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 15= | West Germany (FRG) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
Consisted of 100 yards, shot put, high jump, 880 yd walk, hammer throw, pole vault, 120 yd hurdles, weight throw, long jump and mile run.
| Games | Gold | Silver | Bronze |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1904 St. Louis details |  Tom Kiely (GBR) |  Adam Gunn (USA) | Truxtun Hare (USA) |
Consisted of long jump, shot put, and 100 yards.
| Games | Gold | Silver | Bronze |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1904 St. Louis details | Max Emmerich (USA) | John Grieb (USA) | William Merz (USA) |
Consisted of long jump, javelin throw, 200 metres, discus throw, and 1500 metres.Eero Lehtonen was the most successful athlete in the event's three-edition history, winning two of the three gold medals on offer and being the only person to reach the podium twice.
Consisted of 100 metres hurdles, shot put, high jump, long jump, and 200 metres. In 1980, the 200 metres was replaced by the 800 metres.Burglinde Pollak, a bronze medalist in 1972 and 1976, was the only woman to win two Olympic pentathlon medals during its five-edition history.
The1906 Intercalated Games were held inAthens and at the time were officially recognised as part of theOlympic Games series, with the intention being to hold a games in Greece in two-year intervals between the internationally held Olympics. However, this plan never came to fruition and theInternational Olympic Committee (IOC) later decided not to recognise these games as part of the official Olympic series. Some sports historians continue to treat the results of these games as part of the Olympic canon.[7]
No strictly track and field combined event featured on the programme, as happened at the1904 Summer Olympics, but the Greeks introduced a variation of theAncient Olympic pentathlon. This contained four track and field events –standing long jump, ancient-stylediscus throw,javelin throw and astadion race (192 m) – with the final event beingGreco-Roman wrestling.[8]
AmericanMartin Sheridan was the initial favourite, having already won gold and silver medals in individual jump and throws events, but dropped out due to injury.Lawson Robertson andIstván Mudin each won two of the rounds (Robertson the long jump and stadion, Mudin the discus and wrestling), but it was Sweden'sHjalmar Mellander who won the gold medal with 24 points. The Swede never finished in the top two of a round, but he performed consistently, never below seventh place in the 27-man field. Mudin of Hungary took a close second place with 25 points.[8] Third place was taken by another Swede,Eric Lemming, who later went on to win two consecutive Olympic gold medals in the javelin throw.[9]
| Games | Gold | Silver | Bronze |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1906 Athens details |  Hjalmar Mellander (SWE) |  István Mudin (HUN) | Eric Lemming (SWE) |
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