Decathlon is generally a men’s event, although there are some women’s decathlon competitions. At the Olympic level, women compete in the seven-sport heptathlon. Under IAAF rules, the women’s decathlon includes the following events: 100-meter run, discus, pole vault, javelin and 400-meter run on day one; 100-meter hurdles, long jump, shot put, high jump and 1500 on day two.
Technique:
What to look for:
Men’s world record:
Eaton needed to run better than 4:16.23 in the closing event, the 1500 meters, about two seconds less than his previous personal best. He closed the race strong and finished in 4:14.48.
On day one, Eaton ran the 100 in 10.21 seconds, then leaped 8.23 meters (27 feet) in the long jump, both of which were not only personal bests but all-time decathlon records. Eaton then threw 14.20/46-7¼ in the shot put and high-jumped 2.05/6-8¾. He closed the day by running 46.70 in a driving rainstorm in the 400. On the second day Eaton ran the 110 hurdles in 13.70 seconds, threw the discus 42.81/140-5, cleared a personal best 5.30/17-4½ in the pole vault and threw the javelin 58.87/193-1 before wrapping up his record performance in the 1500.
Women's world record:
On the first day of competition, Skujyte ran the 100 meters in 12.45, threw the discus 46.19 meters, scored 3.1 meters in the pole vault, 48.78 meters in the javelin throw and ran a personal best 57.19 in the 400. On day two she ran the 100-meter hurdles in 14.22, scored 6.12 meters in the long jump, 16.42 meters in the shot put and 1.78 meters in the high jump. Needing to run 5:53.82 in the 1500 to set the record, Skujyte cruised in with a time of 5:15.86.
