Robert Zmelík wasn’t unbeatable in every meet, but in Barcelona 1992, nobody else combined consistency, peak fitness, and mental resilience as well as he did. That’s why, on that stage, he was the best.
Daley Thompson successfully defended his Olympic title, having also won the 1980 Moscow Games. The rivalry between Thompson and Jürgen Hingsen was one of the big storylines: both were world record holders in the early 1980s, and their duels
13th European Athletics Championships were held in Athens 1982. Daley Thompson’s 8743 points was a Championship record at the time and also stood as a world record.
Willi Holdorf secured Olympic decathlon gold in Tokyo at the 1964 Summer Olympics following one of the most thrilling battles of the competition against Rein Aun.
At the 2007 World Championships in Athletics in Osaka, Roman Šebrle captured the decathlon title with 8676 points, completing his long pursuit after two World Championships silver medals with a long-awaited gold medal.