Mike Maczey represented Germany at its highest level - national champion twice, Olympic competitor, and placed in the top eight at European Championships. At Götzis 2000 he posted his lifetime best - 8461 points.
Jaakko Ojaniemi’s top decathlon score of 8192 points was achieved at the 2002 European Championships in München. His international medal collection is almost entirely from junior and U23 competitions.
Mikk Pahapill won heptathlon gold at the 2009 European Indoor Championships with 6362 points. Remarkably, he established PBs in all seven disciplines, including a 7.97 m long jump, achieving historic status in indoor combined events.
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