Search results: Athletics

A leave-one-event-out test from 7,000 to 4,000 points

Liam Belo Da Silva of Sweden won the men’s decathlon at the 2026 World Athletics U20 Championships with 8112 points, setting a new Swedish U20 record.

This article asks whether the decathlon’s own performance data can provide enough information to calibrate a fair scoring system without relying primarily on elite athletes. Using 27, 741 complete decathlons—and a separate dataset excluding all …

Oleksandr Apaichev achieved a personal best of 8709 points during a dual meet between the Soviet Union and East Germany in Neubrandenburg in 1984. This score remains the Ukrainian national record. After retiring from competitive athletics, …

Francisco Javier Benet secured his place in Spanish athletics history with an impressive 8526-point decathlon in 1998, keeping him at the top of the national all-time list.

Alain Blondel is a former French decathlete best known for winning the gold medal at the 1994 European Championships and for representing France at the Olympic level during his international athletics career.

After retiring as a decathlete, Andrei Nazarov started coaching. He has coached decathletes Erki Nool, Janek Õiglane, heptathlete Larissa Netšeporuk and long jumper Ksenija Balta.

Christian Plaziat was key in elevating French decathlon to world ‐class status and held the national record until the rise of Kevin Mayer. Despite his Olympic setbacks, his charisma, consistency, and indoor indoor dominance made him a …

Nathaniel sent me an e-mail and here is his message to all readers of Decathlon 2000.

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.

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 …

Jagan Hames is the Commonwealth Games Champion in Decathlon (1998, Kuala Lumpur). He won gold with a stunning 8490 points, setting both Australian and Oceania records - an achievement that stood for over two decades (until 2021).

Jaakko Ojaniemi’s top decathlon score of 8192 points was achieved at the 2002 European Championships in München. His international medal collection is almost entirely from junior and U23 competitions.

Kurt Bendlin, a gifted German decathlete, overcame multiple injuries and personal tragedy to set a world record in 1967, and despite repeated setbacks, made several comebacks throughout his career.

Simon Poelman's legacy to New Zealand athletics is that of the greatest all round athlete in it's history. His outstanding and, probably, under developed ability at a wide range of events brought him successes at many major events. He is also …