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.
Stefan Schmid set his decathlon personal best of 8485 points in Ratingen in 2000 and finished ninth at the Sydney Olympics later that year. His career also included seventh ‐place finishes at the 1997 and 2001 World Championships, but his
Let me start out by saying that Götzis is the best track meet in the world and that the people of Götzis and the organizing committee are to be congratulated. Everything you hear about Götzis is true!
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.
Failing in just one event can end a decathlete's entire competition, with no points scored and no chance of recovery - no matter how well they've performed elsewhere.
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.
Mike Maczey won the individual decathlon competition at the 2002 European Cup Combined Events Super League in Bydgoszcz with 8104 points. His career best of 8461 points came in Götzis in 2000, while his indoor heptathlon best was 6015 points at
Michael Smith won two Commonwealth decathlon titles and World Championships silver in Tokyo 1991 and bronze in Göteborg 1995. The Canadian set his decathlon best of 8626 points in Götzis 1996 and earned World Indoor heptathlon silver with 6279
Lev Lobodin won three European decathlon bronze medals and world indoor heptathlon silver in Birmingham 2003. Having represented Ukraine before switching to Russia, he achieved a decathlon best of 8571 points in Budapest 1998 and set a Russian
Klaus Isekenmeier won the European U23 decathlon title in Turku in 1997, three years after taking silver at the U20 World Championships in Lisbon. The German decathlete set his personal best of 8310 points in Ratingen in 1997 and recorded nine
Jürgen Hingsen is a German decathlete who set three world records in the early 1980s, with performances worth 8741, 8825 and 8832 points under the 1985 scoring tables. Representing West Germany, he won silver at the Los Angeles 1984 Olympic
Jon Arnar Magnusson is the Icelandic record holder at 110m hurdles, long jump and decathlon. He set numerous national records, secured multiple international indoor medals in heptathlon, and consistently ranked among the world’s elite decathletes.
The Decathlon's nice in that you get to know the other athletes. It's almost like everyone helps each other out. We're all out there trying to win, but at the same time there's a friendship there too. It's always fun going to meets and catching up with the other guys - Tom Pappas