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.
Steve Fritz missed an Olympic medal by 20 points in Atlanta 1996. He had finished the best competition of his life, scoring 8644 points. That got him 4th place.
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.
Failing in just one event can end a decathlete's entire competition, with no points scored and no chance of recovery - no matter how well they've performed elsewhere.
The Decathlon's nice in that you get to know the other athletes. It's almost like everyone helps each other out. We're all out there trying to win, but at the same time there's a friendship there too. It's always fun going to meets and catching up with the other guys - Tom Pappas