Jürgen Hingsen: The Shadow of Greatness (0)

The tall and powerful German, Jürgen Hingsen, set world records in the decathlon three years in a row (1982–1984), yet he often lived in the shadow of his great rival, Britain’s Daley Thompson.

In 1982, Hingsen won the West German Championships in Ulm with a new world record of 8723 points (8741 on the 1985 scoring tables), only to see it broken later that year by Thompson at the European Championships in Athens. The pattern repeated in 1983: Hingsen raised the world mark again, this time in Bernhausen with 8779 points (8825 on updated tables), but couldn’t top Thompson at the World Championships in Helsinki.

In 1984, Hingsen once again pushed the decathlon world record higher—this time to 8798 points (8832) in Mannheim—but it was Thompson who claimed Olympic gold in Los Angeles. Interestingly, all of Hingsen’s world records were set on German soil, while none of Thompson’s were achieved in Britain.

Nicknamed the “German Hercules,” Jürgen was born on January 25, 1958, in Duisburg. He rose to prominence in 1977, winning against the Russian juniors at age 19 and placing third behind Thompson at the European Junior Championships. Over his career, he collected a handful of silver medals, won two national titles, and claimed victory in 8 of his 28 career decathlons.

Despite tough domestic competition from fellow Germans Siegfried Wentz and former world record-holder Guido Kratschmer, Hingsen made his mark internationally. However, his Olympic run in Seoul (1988) ended in disappointment when he was disqualified in the 100 meters for three false starts—a rare and crushing moment in decathlon history.

Though he never managed to beat Daley Thompson in any of their 10 head-to-head matchups, Hingsen’s combined best performances across all ten decathlon events would total an astonishing 9323 points. He was world-ranked seven times and also produced several impressive indoor heptathlon scores.