Decathlon

Traditionally, the person who wins the decathlon is called the “World’s Greatest Athlete” because the winner has to be talented in so many different areas. He has to be good at running, jumping, hurdling, and throwing. In short, the person who wins the decathlon embodies the motto of the Olympics: “faster, higher, stronger”. Right now, Bryan Clay of the United States holds the title of “World’s Greatest Athlete” as he won the decathlon during the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games.

A decathlon consists of ten track and field events: 100 meters, long jump, shot put, high jump, 400 meters, 110 meter hurdles, discus, pole vault, javelin, and the 1500 meters. Men compete in decathlons and women compete in heptathlons, which consists of seven track and field events: the 100 meters, high jump, shot put, 200 meters, long jump, javelin, and the 800 meters.

I can only imagine how hard athletes have to work to be able to compete well in seven or ten events. I mean, we hear about the tough training regimens that runners, and jumpers, and hurdlers go through and to be good at all of them must be very hard to achieve.

What do you think about the decathlon? Do you play a variety of sports?