Dan O’Brien won Olympic decathlon gold in Atlanta 1996 and three consecutive world titles in 1991, 1993 and 1995. The American set a world record of 8891 points in Talence 1992 and added the world indoor heptathlon title with a record 6476
Dave Johnson won Olympic decathlon bronze in Barcelona 1992 despite a stress fracture in his right foot. The American also claimed Universiade gold in Duisburg 1989 and Goodwill Games gold in Seattle 1990, achieving his highest score of 8727
Dean Macey won Commonwealth Games decathlon gold in Melbourne 2006, following world silver in Sevilla 1999 and bronze in Edmonton 2001, where he set his personal best of 8603 points. The British decathlete also finished fourth at both the Sydney
Hans van Alphen won the 2011 Talence Decastar with 8200 points, narrowly defeating Mikk Pahapill and Eelco Sintnicolaas in one of the closest finishes in the meeting's history.
Dezső Szabó won European decathlon silver in Split 1990 with a Hungarian record of 8436 points and finished fourth at the Barcelona 1992 Olympics. He also claimed Universiade gold in Fukuoka 1995 and European indoor heptathlon silver with a
Valter Külvet was a highly gifted Estonian decathlete who competed for the Soviet Union during his main international career. He set Estonian senior decathlon records: 8332 points in 1987 and 8506 points in 1988.
Torsten Voss has won gold medal at the World Championships in Roma 1987. In 1981, he claimed silver at the European U20 Championships, and in 1982 set a junior world record in decathlon with 8397 points.
Tom Pappas won world decathlon gold in Paris and world indoor heptathlon gold in Birmingham in 2003, also claiming the IAAF World Combined Events Challenge title that year. The American set his decathlon best of 8784 points in Palo Alto 2003 and
Steve Fritz missed an Olympic medal by 20 points in Atlanta 1996. He had finished the best competition of his life, scoring 8644 points. That got him 4th place.
Simon Poelman's personal best of 8366 points is still a New Zealand national record. This was set at the national athletics championships in Christchurch 1987. Poelman secured the New Zealand decathlon title seven times between 1984 and 1992.
Oleksandr Yurkov represented Ukraine in the decathlon, achieving a personal best of 8574 points in Götzis 2000. A European U23 silver medallist in Turku 1997, he went on to claim consecutive individual European Cup victories in Oulu 2000 and
Sebastian Chmara is the Polish Decathlon record holder who became World Indoor champion in 1999 and European Indoor champion in 1998. He cemented his legacy in Polish athletics with a stunning 8566 ‐point decathlon in 1998, securing his
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).
Robert Zmelik won Olympic decathlon gold with 8611 points in Barcelona 1992 and became world indoor heptathlon champion in Paris 1997. He achieved his decathlon personal best of 8627 points in Götzis 1992 and scored 6228 points for his world
Robert de Wit set a Dutch decathlon record of 8447 points in Eindhoven 1988 and finished eighth at the Seoul Olympics that year. He also placed fourth in the heptathlon at the Genova 1992 European Indoor Championships with a national record of 6023
Ramil Ganiyev won Asian Games decathlon gold in Hiroshima 1994 and finished eighth at both the Barcelona 1992 and Atlanta 1996 Olympics. He achieved his best World Championships finish in Athens 1997, placing fifth with an Uzbek national record of
At the 1993 World Championships in Stuttgart, Paul Meier captured the bronze medal with a personal best score of 8548 points. On 30 April 2004, he married high jumper Heike Henkel. They have a daughter, Marlene Meier.
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