Roman Šebrle became the first decathlete ever to achieve over 9000 points, setting the World Record at 9026 points (Götzis 2001), succeeding his compatriot, Tomaš Dvorak, who had scored 8994 points two years earlier (Prague 1999).
Diverted off the troubled path of his childhood, Bryan Clay went on to become one of the most decorated decathletes of all time. He won an Olympic gold medal at the Beijing Olympic Games (2008) and became decathlon World Champion in Helsinki 2005.
Aleksandr Pogorelov was a talented decathlete with podium-level performances on major stages, but his legacy has been significantly impacted by doping findings and annulled results.
Coached by Gennadiy Morozov, Aleksei Drozdov benefited from moving to Bryansk to train, transitioning from local sprinter interest to elite multi-event athlete following encouragement from family and early exposure to combined events training.
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.
Estonia has a deserved image of an e-country, but only a few know that one of the first to conquer the world in this field was Decathlon 2000! Being the best in your field is a very inspiring goal. Even small things can be big if you have knowledge and enthusiasm - Raul Rebane, communication consultant