Robert Zmelík’s Olympic triumph helped spark a golden era for Czech decathlon. He inspired future stars like world record holders Tomáš Dvořák and Roman Šebrle.
Ramil Ganiyev holds the Uzbekistan national record in decathlon with 8445 points from his performance in Athens 1997. Also holds the indoor heptathlon record for Uzbekistan with 5918 points scored in Sofia 1990.
After injury setbacks, Jorge Ureña made a triumphant return in June 2023 at Ratingen, Germany, posting a new PB of 8381 points ‐ lifting him to the third ‐best Spanish decathlon score ever. At the 2019 European Indoor Championships
The discipline and training applied by decathletes have always been regarded by me as the ultimate in athletic dedication. Whilst it is of course always a huge honour for any decathlete to achieve the ultimate status of World Champion, I cannot help but regard all those who dedicate themselves to this most gruelling of athletic disciplines as Champions - unknown person