Rafer Johnson, a multi-sport high school star who rose from poverty and discrimination, became one of the greatest decathletes in history, ultimately winning Olympic gold in 1960 after a dramatic final event against C.K. Yang.
Willem Coertzen set an African decathlon record of 8398 points when finishing third at the Götzis Hypomeeting in 2015. The South African also won the Talence Décastar that year and earned African Championships silver in 2008 and bronze in 2016.
Larbi Bourrada set an African decathlon record of 8521 points when finishing fifth at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games. The Algerian also placed fifth at the Beijing 2015 World Championships and won five African decathlon titles between 2008 and 2022.
Larbi Bourrada won the men's decathlon at the 2011 Ratingen Mehrkampf ‐Meeting with 8302 points, setting an African record and defeating Germany's Rico Freimuth by just 15 points. Freimuth finished second with 8287 points, while Pascal