Decathletes put "runners" to total shame

Ok. Great. Thanks for sharing.

Like caring about the 50th place person in any event. No one cares.

They are amazing specimens, but they look so weak and sluggish when compared to the specialists we're used to seeing in each event.

They were throwing the discus awkwardly for 45m. It was tough for the measurement team. Shotput totally sucks. Pole vault cringe. The 1500 is a shambles with the winner mid pack. Probably their best event, although some still suck, is the 400.

I'm a scrawny pathetic little distance running dweeb. When the decathletes at our school come on the track and show us their big muscles and handsome faces I tinkle my pants a little bit, knowing I'll never be able to size up to a Real Man (such as a decathlete).

such a thought makes me excited to be dominated by muscular young decathletes.

no homo.

What did Ovett call the decathlon...

Yes, they aren't as good as specialists in any event. But if you took any specialist...they would win their own event easily... and maybe do well in one or two others... and then be absolute dead last in most of the rest if they entered a decathlon.

They are the hottest men in T&F. The javelin throwers are often HOT too.

And most of the top guys on steroids/HGH/SARMS.....Besides being great athletes you also have to have no integrity...

Honestly they still run pretty good 1500 times for guys that probably don't do much endurance training. How many runners would kill to run a sub-5 1500. I have recent run a 2:44 marathon and 1:14 half, and it's still takes a lot of effort to run that kind of 1500 time.

Someone with the strength to put the shot, and the fast-twitch muscles to sprint, has the wrong body type for the 1500m.

In regard to the other poster’s Ovett question, he said that it was 9 easy events, and one hard one. Daley Thompson said it was like having 10 girlfriends. Thompson also said that Ovett wasn’t that clever, and that it was his joke, Princess Anne hoped their baby would be white, and that the world’s second best athlete was gay.

The German guy who won NCAAs was made in a lab, almost set the WR.

I understand the event, it's just not as exciting as watching the very best at each event. The commentary seems forced, always stressing that these are the greatest athletes, how difficult it is etc., but as you watch each event you have to constantly remind yourself that it's a compromise between many events. A new WR in the 1500 would be 100 times more exciting than tracking some oaf in the 1500 and estimating whether his points will be enough.

Wrong. He said it was 9 Mickey Mouse events and a slow 1500.

Would you rather run a 3:39 1500m (and look like Gerry Lindgren) or...

Run a 10.5 100m, a 48.5 400m, HJ 6'5, and run a 4:10 1500m?

It is a question of taste. Both are awesome.

If I had a kid thinking of doing track, I would not hesitate to nudge them towards the multis (if they had the body-type). I think a lot of us distance runners underestimate how good it would feel to be in 48 second 400m shape and able to high jump super high. We assume what we do is "better" but we haven't tried being elite level strong, quick, and coordinated.

Theses athletes have better all-around health and they are all such supportive competitors (see photo). They have such a love for the sport. The multis are great.

Open image

I was talking to someone about the seven pillars of athleticism and realized that after a life of distance running, I was like 1 for 7. Oof. Decathletes are like 7 for 7.

1. Strength - the classic definition of athleticism is often tied to power
2. Speed - the best athletes, in any sport, can generate high top-end speed
   
3. Balance - throwers often exhibit the best balance of any T&F athlete
   
4. Flexibility - allows the body to maximize its abilities with sustaining injury such as in the jumping events
   
5. Endurance - similar to stamina, the ability to sustain rigorous effort over time
   
6. Coordination - found in complicated events like PV and HJ
   
7. Explosiveness - seen in athletes who can start & stop, jump, cut, etc.

You could take a decathlete and put them in almost any sport and they're likely to be at least kind of decent with a fast on ramp to improving as the baseline skills are already there.

Take your average elite distance runner and drop them in anything else and they're in trouble. They just don't have an of the 6 other skills, or they have a bit of speed, but even the fastest distance runners are getting outsprinted by the slowest decathletes.

I, personally, rather have the decathlete's skill set. I say this after a lifetime of middle distance running.

Great post. Decathletes are the total package. Highly aerobic but with explosive power and massive shoulders. Truly the pinnacle of fitness and what the Greeks had in mind- the body of a God.

Actuallyhe said 9 Mickey Mouse events and one real event that no-ones any good at 😆