As the chilly sea breeze that punctuates the Rio winter eased its way through the Olympic Stadium, an athlete clad in the classy, understated, colours of the United States Track and Field Team stepped up to the podium to receive the Holy Grail for anyone pursuing a career in Athletics – the Olympics Gold Medal.
For the majority of the crowd at the Rio Olympics 2016, though, this award presentation was merely another distraction, another event that was being used as a fill, as they awaited the start of the 200m final.
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That night, Usain Bolt was going to run his last ever individual Olympic race, and quite honestly, nothing else mattered – neither for the crowd, nor for a global TV audience who stayed glued to their sets, the fervent admiration engendered by the charismatic Jamaican keeping them awake irrespective of the time of night (or day) they found themselves in.
While the beaming American athlete received his Gold medal amidst some polite, yet loud, applause (in Rio, there are only two forms of cheering – loud or not at all) the general mood seemed to be – “All this is great, but Come On! Get it over with! Get Usain out there”. And who’s to blame them – we are all, after all talking about not just the Greatest Sprinter to ever run this planet, but the most popular track and field athlete in living memory.
Bolt, as is his wont, stole the show and almost everyone forgot about the Gold medal winning American – if they ever really noticed him in the first place.
They should have, though.
You see, very few truly appreciated the remarkable feat that he had achieved that night. For the first time since Daley Thompson in 1984, (and for only the third time in the history of the Olympics) a Decathlete had defended his Olympic title.
Also Read: American Ashton Eaton wins second straight decathlon gold
That night in Rio, Ashton James Eaton, had used those massive shoulders of his to throw open the doors of the Athletics Hall of Fame, and cement his place as the World’s Greatest Athlete.
What is the Decathlon, and how do you score it?
A major reason for the general under-rated-ness of Eaton lies in the fact that not a lot of people know much about his event – the Decathlon – and even fewer know exactly how it’s scored.
So let’s start with the basics – the Decathlon, as the name suggests, consists of ten events conducted over just two gruelling days. The first day has the 100m sprint, the long jump, the shot put, the high jump and closes with a punishing 400m. The second day has the 110m hurdles, the discus throw, the pole vault, the javelin throw and a truly torturous finish with the 1500m.
The point scoring system by the International Athletics Federation (IAAF) is a complicated formula that was developed way back in 1984 and has seen just a few tweaks since then.
The formula for track events is P = A (B - T) ^C where P stands for Points, T for time (in seconds), while A, B and C are parameters that were determined in 1984 based on world records at the time. Each event has different numerical parameters, while the athlete determines the T with his performance. The formula for field events meanwhile is P = A (D – B) ^C; the only difference here being that D stands for Distance (in metres).
This is, however, a sporting website – and not a rehash of the nightmare that algebra class often turned into – so instead of going into further details of the formulae, here’s a handy table that shows the minimum benchmark required to achieve a certain number of points. For example: if you run the 100m in 10.5 seconds, you would receive a score that was between 900 and 1000 points.
Event | 1,000 points | 900 points | 800 points | 700 points | Unit |
100 m | 10.395 | 10.827 | 11.278 | 11.756 | Seconds |
Long jump | 7.76 | 7.36 | 6.94 | 6.51 | Metres |
Shot put | 18.4 | 16.79 | 15.16 | 13.53 | Metres |
High jump | 2.20 | 2.10 | 1.99 | 1.88 | Metres |
400 m | 46.17 | 48.19 | 50.32 | 52.58 | Seconds |
110 m hurdles | 13.8 | 14.59 | 15.419 | 16.29 | Seconds |
Discus throw | 56.17 | 51.4 | 46.59 | 41.72 | Metres |
Pole vault | 5.28 | 4.96 | 4.63 | 4.29 | Metres |
Javelin Throw | 77.19 | 70.67 | 64.09 | 57.45 | Metres |
1500m | 3:53.79 | 4:07.42 | 4.21:77 | 4:36.96 | Minutes: seconds |
And that is, in essence, the beauty of the decathlon – you aren’t really competing with others, you are essentially competing with yourself. Faster the times and longer the distances, the higher your score. It’s as simple as that. Like Eaton once said when asked who his biggest rival was – “The person I battle with the most is myself. I am always competing against myself way more than anybody else”
What makes the Decathlon so tough?
Usain Bolt, Justin Gatlin and a host of sprinters running the Games’ marquee track event, the 100m, had complained about the tight schedules faced by the sprinters; and with good reason – with just about an hour’s gap between the semifinals and the finals the athletes barely had enough time to recover and recuperate before they went full pelt again.
An hour’s gap, though, can seem like heaven to a Decathlete – having to finish ten events in two days means pushing your body to the very extremes of its limits in terms of endurance and durability. There’s a stipulated minimum of 30 minutes between events, but factor in stretching, refuelling and even bathroom breaks, that can feel about as long as an Usain Bolt special.
What makes it even more compelling is the sheer variety of the events and the training routines and exercises that each particular event necessitates.Ask any athlete – casual or professional – and they will tell you that when you are training, you ought to focus on muscle groups and techniques that come into play for your particular event, and that event only.
Which is why Bolt doesn’t run the 1500m; and why Thomas Röhler (Rio’s Javelin Gold medalist) doesn’t go around practising a Fosbury Flip. It would be utterly stupid – and probably career ending – to do something like that.
A decathlete, though, has no choice.
He does everything. He needs to have enough explosive power to sprint a 100m but also have the endurance to run a 1500m. He needs to have the deceptively complex technique to clear the hurdles at pace nailed down, while at the same time mastering the art of soaring 5+ metres into the air using nothing but a pole.
He needs to have the brute strength required to throw a Shot put, but still have the pace and light-footedness to compete in the long jump. There are no second chances. Miss out on one event and the chances of a medal go Kaput!
To give you an understanding of just how good the best decathletes are, here’s a handy guide that showcases the world records in all the ten events, alongside the best any decathlete has ever done in a competitive decathlon and – just to put things into perspective for the casual Indian reader – the Indian national records of said events:
Event | World Record (Points) | Decathlon Best (Points) | Indian Record (Points) |
100 m | 9.58 s (1,202) | 10.15 s (1,059) | 10.26 s (1,032) |
Long Jump | 8.95 m (1,312) | 8.23 m (1,120) | 8.09 m (1,084) |
Shot Put | 23.12 m (1,295) | 19.17 m (1,048) | 20.69 m (1,143) |
High Jump | 2.45 m (1,244) | 2.27 m (1,061) | 2.25 m (1,041) |
400 m | 43.03 s (1,164) | 45.00 s (1,060) | 45.40 s (1,039) |
110 m Hurdles | 12.80 s (1,135) | 13.35 s (1,060) | 13.59 s (1,028) |
Discus Throw | 74.08 m (1,383) | 55.87 m (993) | 66.28 m (1,215) |
Pole Vault | 6.16 m (1,284) | 5.76 m (1,152) | 5.13 m (951) |
Javelin Throw | 98.48 m (1,331) | 79.80 m (1,040) | 86.48 m (1,142) |
1500 m | 3 minutes 26 s (1,218) | 3 minutes 58 s (963) | 3 minutes 38 s (1,122) |
A number of people use this rather impressive table to trash-talk decathletes. Their logic is that the decathlon is mostly comprised of guys who are good-but-not-really-good-enough-for-the-top-level.
This is dangerously simplistic thinking, and putting it politely, leads to an utterly erroneous assumption – that Decathletes are just average athletes.
For most human beings, what Decathletes do borders on the impossible; and that is why normal rules don’t apply here. Not only is it hopelessly difficult to train in ten different events, but to compete in each of them within a span of 36 hours (including a 12 hour rest period in the night) and still approach times that are essentially world-class in each event is nigh unthinkable. It’s basically insanity. On crack.
Look at it keeping that context in mind, and those Decathlon Bests touch a whole new level of awesome.
Ashton Eaton’s journey to discover his inner champion
The first major competition that Eaton competed in was the 2009 World Championships in Berlin (which will always be remembered for the nigh-unbeatable World Records that Usain Bolt set in the 100 and the 200 metres). He had entered full of confidence, having been placed fifth in the tough US Olympic trials the previous year, but a disappointing 18th placed finish - with a score of 8061 – brought him back to ground; and he returned to Portland, Oregon (his hometown) with the resolve to not compete internationally till he was sure he could compete with the best.
Under the tutelage of Harry Mara (who still serves as his coach) Eaton buckled down and worked on his weaknesses; in fact so pronounced was his improvement in his weaker disciplines that within a year he had improved his Personal Best in the Pole Vault by a barely believable 1.2 metres.
At the 2010 NCAA Indoor Championships, Eaton broke the great Dan O’Brien’s 17-year old heptathlon (an indoor version of the decathlon consisting of the 60m sprint, Long jump, Shot put, High Jump, 60m hurdles, Pole Vault and the 1000m) world record with a score of 6,499.
The next year, he went back to participating with the big boys again and finished 2nd in the World Championships in Daegu. For Eaton, it was an even bigger disappointment than 2009.
Buckling down yet again, in the next year he won Gold in the Heptathlon in the World Indoor Championships, and Gold in the Decathlon in the Olympic Games.
He hasn’t lost a major Decathlon or Heptathlon contest since.
He has broken his own World Record in the heptathlon and has smashed the 9,000 point barrier (and consequently the World Record of 9,026 that had been held by the legendary Roman Sebrle) twice. If the 9,039 he set in the 2012 US Olympic Trials was brilliant, his mark of 9,045 (the current world record) set in the 2015 World Championships was simply astounding.
Ashton Eaton hasn’t just been winning the toughest athletic event on the planet year after year; he has been utterly dominating it.
Rio and the seal of Greatness
Walking into Rio the defending World and Olympic champion, the pressure was all on Eaton to deliver, and boy did he turn up with his A-game. Having finished second to an inspired Damian Warner in the 100m, he regained his rightful spot at the top of the pile when he flew 7.94m in the day’s second event; the long jump.
Despite suffering two scares in the Pole Vault, his mental fortitude shone through and he never lost that overall first spot over the next eight events. It’s that mental strength that makes him such a great champion - "If I have to run to put myself in the hospital, if I have to run that hard, that's how hard I'll have to run."
He finished with an Olympic Record-equaling tally of 8,893 points.
Event | Rio 2016 (Points) | Personal Best (Points) |
100 m | 10.46 s (985) | 10.21 s (1,044) |
Long Jump | 7.94 m (1,045) | 8.23 m** (1,120) |
Shot Put | 14.73 m (773) | 15.40 m (814) |
High Jump | 2.01 m (813) | 2.11 m (906) |
400 m | 46.07 s (1,005) | 45.00 s** (1,060) |
110 m Hurdles | 13.80 s (1,000) | 13.35 s** (1,060) |
Discus Throw | 45.49 m (777) | 47.36 m (816) |
Pole Vault | 5.20 m (972) | 5.40 m (1,035) |
Javelin Throw | 59.77 m (734) | 66.64 m (838) |
1500 m | 4 minutes 23 s (789) | 4 minutes 14 s (85) |
** Decathlon BestsN.B. Ashton Eaton has three, THREE, personal bests appear as Decathlon Bests – in events as diverse as the Long Jump, the 110m hurdles and the 400m. That’s just ridiculous.
Like the great Briton Daley Thompson and his compatriot Bob Mathias before him, Eaton had defended the ultimate prize.
The best part about all this is that he isn’t your regular track jock. He speaks with a rare intelligence and clarity; one of his role models is Tesla co-founder and every modern hipster’s poster boy Elon Musk, whose vision and ability to innovate he greatly admires. And Eaton's ultimate aim is to open a University that is different from the ones that permeate the current system promoting “rote regurgitation of information”.
Also Read: The Eatons looking for unprecedented double gold
Despite being a double Olympic and multiple World Champion, he carries with him an air of humility that inspires just about as much awe as his sporting achievements. Where most athletes, and in fact most human beings, would be jealous and frustrated that their crowing moments are always getting overshadowed, Eaton refuses to stop making us all look bad. In his words – “It has been a pleasure being in the same era. I mean, the guy’s last name is Bolt, and he’s the fastest man ever. You can’t write a story like that, and so to be in the pages in there is nice.”
Outside of Oregon, he could walk on a street, amongst us, and pass almost unnoticed. Few have heard his name, and even fewer recognise just how great his achievements have been.
But that doesn’t mean it takes away even a bit of sheen from his athletic magnificence. Ashton James Eaton is the best all-round athlete, bar none, on the planet; and no amount of obliviousness from our part can take that away from him.
