The Decathlon - From My Perspective

Be prepared to get slammed for what you said, but I kind of agree. They are jack of all trades but I am more entertained by watching the best in each event (except field events which I never watch).

I disagree, and I'm a distance runner. You could make a pretty could case that these guys are the fittest all-around athletes as they have pure speed, aerobic ability jumping ability, endurance, strength, flexibility (you need it for the hurdles), coordination and timing.

Distance Runner Man wrote:

Could I do the jumps, throws? No way, not a chance in hell. I also don't go around calling myself the world's greatest athlete...

Is the best basketball player the guy who wins the 3 point competition, or is it the guy who is the best overall player? The sport that encompasses track and field is called athletics. Someone that competes in athletics is an athlete. The person that is the best at athletics is called the worlds best athlete. It's just a saying; there's obviously no real way to compare across sports.

Distance Runner Man wrote:

So I like Eaton and I want to like the Decathlon, but there is just something about it that bothers me.

Watching these guys gut out these mediocre times, jumps and throws puts this seed of doubt in my head about them being the best athlete.

I know the 1500 makes it really bad for me. The whole time, I was enjoying the events and then they run the 1500 and they look so freaking slow out there, plus the one guy pulls back and let Eaton win.

I don't know, I just have a hard time buying it.

Could I do the jumps, throws? No way, not a chance in hell. I also don't go around calling myself the world's greatest athlete...

The athlete you're thinking of doesn't exist. I don't really have a problem with Eaton being called the world's greatest athlete though I think that's such a subjective term.

the 1500 is a fish-out-of-water event for these fast, powerful guys. many don't compete with the same intensity as the other events.

DECATHLETES NEED TO RACE THE 800m, NOT THE 1500.

I mean Eaton probably has a faster 1500 PR than 90% of the posters on this board and also Pole Vaults 17+ feet, runs a 400 sub 46, long jumps a distance that would have made the Olympic team AS A LONG JUMPER ONLY and ran sub 10.25 for 200 and can break 13.50 in the 110 hurdles. He's the worlds best athlete. I like calling him that a lot more than a guy like Clay who does well at the short sprints and throws but runs like an overweight middle schooler girl at the longer distances.

The dec requires an all-around athlete, not a specialist. The Wikipedia entry compares the WR with the decathlon best and the decathlon best is about 4 to 25% off of the WR, with the decathlon bests overall being 16% off of the WR:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Decathlon#Records

The comparison shows the kind of penalty that being an all-around athlete imposes, but to me that doesn't make the dec an invalid event.

Dennis Reynolds wrote:

...and ran sub 10.25 for 200.

I knew Ashton is good, but geez!

Let me chime back in for a second. For the record, I am not saying that I think distance runners are better athletes.

I guess I am wondering if the specialists in each individual event think that when the Decathlon guys do their event, it is pathetic. Probably not.

I guess my beef with it seems to be that I think there are athletes out there who could dominate the Decathlon and just never do it. I mean, it is hard enough to get solid athletes to do glory events, let alone the Decathlon.

I went to a top 5 NCAA D1 program and even our Decathlon guys were kind of mediocre guys who "dropped" to the Decathlon after not succeeding in other events.

I know this is unpopular and, for the record, Eaton is an amazing athlete. Hell, he probably is the worlds best.

From the looks of things, the best athlete without a doubt is the winner of the 100m.

If Usain Bolt did the Decathlon he would crush Eaton. If Tyson Gay or Ryan Bailey focused they too would beat Eaton.

Decathletes are more whiners than anything else, about how hard their 'events' are. Its pathetic.

To win Gold in an individual event most athletes must PR. In the Dec you don't even have to PR most of the time to win.

The 100m Champion is a far greater athletes than the Decathlon Champion.

The Decathlon and Heptathlon is just welfare usually for the best all around T&F team, usually the U.S or some European country.

Dumbo wrote:

From the looks of things, the best athlete without a doubt is the winner of the 100m.

If Usain Bolt did the Decathlon he would crush Eaton. If Tyson Gay or Ryan Bailey focused they too would beat Eaton.

Decathletes are more whiners than anything else, about how hard their 'events' are. Its pathetic.

To win Gold in an individual event most athletes must PR. In the Dec you don't even have to PR most of the time to win.

The 100m Champion is a far greater athletes than the Decathlon Champion.

The Decathlon and Heptathlon is just welfare usually for the best all around T&F team, usually the U.S or some European country.

So you think Bolt could vault? Maybe he could...

you are aware that he LJed further than every other american but 1 in eugene? and you call that mediocre??? get back on the meds.

what are you trying to "buy?" in addition to not being able to do the jumps and throws, you also wouldn't be able to do the sprints and hurdles. that leaves you 1 of the 10 events and my guess is that 4:14 isn't far off what you do fresh. are you at least in high school?

Lets take Usain Bolt in a decathlon.

He could jog 9.8 in 100.

In the long jump he could easily jump 27 feet.

400, sub 45, maybe even sub 44.

110h, 13.5, 1500 4:30. Thats already 200+ pts over Eaton.

In the High Jump he could fall over and hit 6 feet, with a little effort 7 feet would be easy.

In the throws, his Javelin would probably be slightly inferior to Eatons, but his Shot and Discus could easily beat Eaton.

The only event Bolt would have trouble with is the Pole Vault. A 16 ft PV would be hard for him.

Still, he beats Eaton by nearly 200 pts without coming close to any of his PR's.

In fact I would venture that any of the sub-10 100m guys would beat Eaton if they focused on the Dec. Lucky for Clay, Eaton, and Hardee the 100m guys know what the score is and where the fame is. Its in the 100m, not the dec.

Dennis Reynolds wrote:

I mean Eaton probably has a faster 1500 PR than 90% of the posters on this board and also Pole Vaults 17+ feet, runs a 400 sub 46, long jumps a distance that would have made the Olympic team AS A LONG JUMPER ONLY and ran sub 10.25 for 200 and can break 13.50 in the 110 hurdles. He's the worlds best athlete. I like calling him that a lot more than a guy like Clay who does well at the short sprints and throws but runs like an overweight middle schooler girl at the longer distances.

I totally agree.

Clay but nonetheless O'Brien made me sick;

both could have come close to 9,000 points with a decent result in the final 1500 ... Clay never seemed to "really try" (nor did he train properly - if at all?! - for these 3 3/4 laps.)

Dvorak didn't run through the line at all (he most probably had achieved the 9,000+ first) - why?? - and complained afterwards, "nobody told me to" ... *sigh*

I have huge respect for Roman Sebrle (2001 May 27) fighting for his time of 4:21.98 and the first 9,000-score as well as Eaton struggling for "7.5 seconds faster" (an advance to Sebrle of 2.00 seconds per lap)

I have to admit, I thought the same before I tried decathlons for myself.

My advice is simple: try the decathlon, then repeat the starting post -

Dumbo wrote:

In the High Jump he could fall over and hit 6 feet, with a little effort 7 feet would be easy.

You don't think having scoliosis could make high jumping difficult?

And do you seriously think a guy who couldn't even beat Jordan Hasay in a 1200 would be able to pull off a good 1500?

marathondude wrote:

I disagree, and I'm a distance runner. You could make a pretty could case that these guys are the fittest all-around athletes

WRONG.

The fittest all around athletes are Crossfit athletes.

I think you should look at it in terms of how Football has evolved. If a Football team had 11 guys, couple of subs declared bench as per soccer, you would have a completely different game, athlete, and level of performance in the various Football skills conducted back to back, all game, by the same 11 guys on offense/defense. Similarly, the Decathlete may not be the best at any one skill, but on the whole, is superior when all event skills are judged under this format.

Dumbo wrote:

Lets take Usain Bolt in a decathlon.

Just silly. You might as well say that Bolt would be the world's greatest pianist if he would just devote his life to it. Well, he hasn't, so we'll never know.

Part of being a decathlete is a willingness and ability to train for all of the events. Bolt won't even train for the 400, much less hurdles, throws, and jumps.

Even the 400m athletes could beat Eaton.

Merritt ran sub 20 and sub 2 for 800m.

Merritt also looks like he has the muscles for good throws and would probably be decent in the LJ, HJ.

Also his 400 training would help him through the rounds more than a 100 guy.