Decathlon Decathlon The decathlon is a combined event in athletics consisting of ten track and field events. The word decathlon is of Greek origin, from δέκα ("déka", meaning "ten") and ἄθλος ("áthlos", or ἄθλον, "áthlon", meaning "contest" or “prize”). Events are held over two consecutive days and the winners are determined by the combined performance in all. Performance is judged on a points system in each event, not by the position achieved. The decathlon is contested mainly by male athletes, while female athletes typically compete in the heptathlon. Traditionally, the title of "World's Greatest Athlete" has been given to the person
Decathlon who wins the decathlon, thus the world's greatest athlete of all times is the recordman of decathlon (Kevin Mayer as of September 2018). This began when King Gustav V of Sweden told Jim Thorpe, "You, sir, are the world's greatest athlete" after Thorpe won the decathlon at the Stockholm Olympics in 1912. The official decathlon world record holder is French Kevin Mayer, who scored 9,126 points at the 2018 Décastar. The event developed from the ancient pentathlon. Pentathlon competitions were held at the ancient Greek Olympics. Pentathlons involved five disciplines – long jump, discus throw, javelin throw, sprint and a