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.
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.
Coached by Gennadiy Morozov, Aleksei Drozdov benefited from moving to Bryansk to train, transitioning from local sprinter interest to elite multi-event athlete following encouragement from family and early exposure to combined events training.