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World Championships Tokyo 1991 (0)

Oct 30, 2026
Dan O'Brien of the United States won the men's decathlon at the 1991 World Athletics Championships in Tokyo with a championship record of 8812 points, claiming his first world title. Canada's Michael Smith secured silver with 8549 points, while Germany's 1988 Olympic champion Christian Schenk took bronze with 8394 points. O'Brien dominated the competition from the opening 100 metres and finished 263 points ahead of Smith.

1991 World Athletics Championships men’s decathlon full results

P Athlete Nation Points Results
1 Dan O'Brien USA 8812
CR		 10,41 - 7.90 - 16.24 - 1.91 - 46,53
13,94 - 47.20 - 5.20 - 60.66 - 4.37,50
2 Michael Smith CAN 8549 10,81 - 7.68 - 15.69 - 2.09 - 47,53
14,78 - 48.42 - 4.40 - 65.46 - 4.29,14
3 Christian Schenk GER 8394 11,37 - 7.55 - 15.77 - 2.18 - 50,10
15,26 - 45.98 - 4.90 - 61.98 - 4.22,58
4 Robert Zmelik TCH 8379 10,85 - 7.84 - 13.42 - 2.00 - 49,48
14,07 - 44.04 - 5.00 - 57.80 - 4.21,24
5 Petri Keskitalo FIN 8318 10,93 - 7.58 - 15.06 - 2.03 - 50,26
14,27 - 44.22 - 4.80 - 69.22 - 4.46,03
6 Simon Poelman NZL 8267 10,82 - 7.32 - 15.88 - 2.06 - 50,10
14,63 - 45.06 - 5.00 - 56.56 - 4.36,36
7 Eduard Hämäläinen URS 8233 10,99 - 7.34 - 15.16 - 2.09 - 49,28
14,51 - 45.48 - 4.90 - 55.64 - 4.36,85
8 Antonio Penalver ESP 8200 11,17 - 7.32 - 16.52 - 2.03 - 50,00
15,38 - 50.66 - 4.50 - 63.08 - 4.32,95
9 Christian Plaziat FRA 8122 10,88 - 7.28 - 13.87 - 2.09 - 48,72
14,38 - 44.30 - 4.90 - 48.62 - 4.29,98
10 Thorsten Dauth GER 8069 10,74 - 6.99 - 15.36 - 2.03 - 48,13
14,88 - 42.96 - 4.30 - 60.46 - 4.28,09
11 Beat Gähwiler SUI 8011 11,27 - 7.13 - 13.86 - 1.88 - 49,18
14,73 - 44.36 - 4.80 - 60.36 - 4.11,82
12 Michael Kohnle GER 8000 10,90 - 7.52 - 14.47 - 2.03 - 49,63
14,57 - 42.28 - 4.70 - 58.68 - 4.51,98
13 Alain Blondel FRA 7848 11,03 - 7.20 - 13.15 - 1.94 - 48,43
14,49 - 39.16 - 4.80 - 55.40 - 4.30,56
14 Munehiro Kaneko JPN 7672 11,33 - 7.18 - 13.49 - 1.94 - 50,19
15,17 - 43.76 - 4.50 - 60.84 - 4.37,86
15 Paul Scott AUS 7663 11,01 - 6.82 - 12.31 - 1.97 - 48,15
15,46 - 39.14 - 4.50 - 61.78 - 4.27,13
16 Jan Trefny SUI 7610 11,41 - 6.59 - 13.93 - 1.91 - 49,31
15,00 - 41.36 - 4.30 - 60.84 - 4.16,95
17 Lars Warming DEN 7529 11,28 - 6.90 - 13.28 - 1.85 - 48,84
15,02 - 42.06 - 4.40 - 53.02 - 4.21,79
18 Saša Karan YUG 7468 11,32 - 6.79 - 13.06 - 1.94 - 49,53
15,37 - 47.16 - 4.20 - 52.38 - 4.30,03
19 Alper Kasapoglu TUR 7211 11,14 - 6.85 - 12.62 - 1.94 - 50,90
15,50 - 40.90 - 4.40 - 48.22 - 4.41,62
20 Robert Muzzio USA 7133 11,41 - 6.80 - 16.62 - 1.97 - 51,42
15,33 - 50.06 - 4.70 - 56.00 - 0
21 Dave Johnson USA 6378 11,16 - 6.65 - 14.61 - 1.97 - 50,78
15,07 - 46.56 - 0 - 68.08 - 0
22 Marco Baffi ITA 6209 11,27 - 6.98 - 12.35 - 1.94 - 50,00
15,93 - 38.70 - 0 - 39.44 - 4.54,15

CR - championship record.

Didn’t finish:
Mikhail Medved (URS), Henrik Dagård (SWE), Pedro Ferreira da Silva (BRA), Homelo Vi (TGA), Dezső Szabó (HUN).

Didn’t start:
Anthony Brannen (GBR), Viktor Radchenko (URS), Fu-An Lee (TPE).

Historical note: Dan O'Brien came remarkably close to Daley Thompson's world record of 8847 points. Despite clearing only 1.91 m in the high jump, well below his personal best of 2.13 m, he remained in contention for the record until the final event. Needing approximately 4 minutes 32 seconds in the 1500 m, O'Brien finished in 4.37,50 and missed the world record by just 35 points.

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