Steve Fritz had finished the best competition of his life, scoring 8644 points, more than Bruce Jenner produced to win the Montreal gold. That got him only fourth place.
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