Janek Salmistu

Good point, Thomas... and thanks for raising this, it highlights an important nuance.

When we say that FDM gives relatively more weight to throwing events and less to jumps/runs, it does not mean that the best throwers will automatically come out on top. The final score is still the result of the full combination of all ten events.

Mayer, Warner and Eaton simply represent different athlete profiles: Mayer gains a lot from his throwing strength, while Warner and Eaton make up ground with their running and jumping abilities. The interesting question is not which individual events are worth more, but whether the current tables favour one type of decathlete profile over another.

This is exactly the kind of discussion the article is meant to encourage...

Jens Schulze wrote in his notes: On July 19, 1981, I took part in a 30-minute decathlon competition in Leiden, Netherlands, together with Daley Thompson, John Crist (USA), Stephan Niklaus (8334 PB), and Robert de Wit.

After the 110 m hurdles, Daley Thompson recorded approximately 17.9 seconds; he ran the final hurdles in five steps and then withdrew. John Crist completed the 1500 m in 7:40 minutes (around 5800 points), while Stephan Niklaus scored about 6000 points and Robert de Wit around 5500 points. I finished with 6887 points (7027 pts under the 1985 tables).

It was a wonderful competition.

Men’s decathlon all-time list - performers over 7500 points, updated. You are welcome!