Athletics at the 1984 Summer Olympics – Men's decathlon

Men's decathlon
at the Games of the XXIII Olympiad
Men's decathlon; at the Games of the XXIII Olympiad
Venue	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum
Date	8 August 1984; 9 August 1984
Competitors	26 from 18 nations
Winning result	8797 OR
Medalists
	← 1980 1988 →

Official Video Highlights

These are the official results of the men's decathlon competition at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, California. There were a total number of 26 participating athletes, with the competition starting on August 8, 1984, and ending on August 9, 1984.^[1]

Medalists

Gold	Daley Thompson Great Britain
Silver	Jürgen Hingsen West Germany
Bronze	Siegfried Wentz West Germany

Abbreviations

DNS	did not start
NM	no mark
OR	olympic record
WR	world record
AR	area record
NR	national record
PB	personal best
SB	season best

Schedule

August 8, 1984

100 m
Long Jump
Shot Put
High Jump
400 m

August 9, 1984

110 m hurdles
Discus Throw
Pole Vault
Javelin Throw
1,500 m

Records

Earlier in 1984 the IAAF had updated its decathlon scoring tables; the tables set in 1962 (with effect from 1964) would be replaced on 1 April 1985.^[2] The world record performance at the changeover date would be recalculated using the new tables and become the new world record.^[2] In the event that another performance had a lower total on the 1962 tables but a higher one on the 1984 tables, it would not supersede the pre-existing record.^[2]

These were the standing world and Olympic records (in points) prior to the 1984 Summer Olympics:

Record	1962 tables	1984 tables	Athlete	Venue	Date
World Record	8798	8832	Jürgen Hingsen	Mannheim (FRG)	June 9, 1984
Olympic Record	8618/8617^{[n 1]}	8634	Bruce Jenner	Montreal (CAN)	July 30, 1976

Daley Thompson's time in the Olympic 110mH was initially recorded as 14.34, on which basis he started the final 1500m needing 4:34.8 to beat Hingsen's world record, or 4:34.9 to equal it.^[3] After slowing at the end to enjoy his triumph, he finished in 4:35.0, giving a points total of 8797, one below the world record (still a new Olympic record).^[3] The time was over 14 seconds outside his personal best.^[4] Under the 1984 tables (taking effect in 1985) Thompson's 8797 scored 8846, whereas Hingsen's 8798 was only 8832.^[2] Nevertheless, Hingsen retained the record under the IAAF's grandfather rule.^[2]

In 1986, the IAAF re-examined the photo finish of Thompson's Olympic 110mH, found it was one-thousandth of a second faster than initially thought, and rounded his time down from 14.34 to 14.33.^[2]^[5] This gave him one extra point, thereby retrospectively equalling Hingsen's 8798 under the 1962 tables, and scoring 8847 on the 1984 tables.^[2] The IAAF ruled on 15 July 1986 that Thompson was co-holder of the world record from 9 August 1984 until 1 April 1985, and sole holder thereafter.^[2]

Results

The highest mark recorded in each event is highlighted in yellow

Rank	Athlete	Nationality	100m	LJ	SP	HJ	400m	110m H	DT	PV	JT	1500m	Points	Notes
	Daley Thompson	Great Britain	10.44	8.01	15.72	2.03	46.97	14.33	46.56	5.00	65.24	4:35.00	8798	EWR^{[n 2]}
	Jürgen Hingsen	West Germany	10.91	7.80	15.87	2.12	47.69	14.29	50.82	4.50	60.44	4:22.60	8673
	Siegfried Wentz	West Germany	10.99	7.11	15.87	2.09	47.78	14.35	46.60	4.50	67.68	4:33.96	8412
4	Guido Kratschmer	West Germany	10.80	7.40	15.93	1.94	49.25	14.66	47.28	4.90	69.40	4:47.99	8326
5	William Motti	France	11.28	7.45	14.42	2.06	48.13	14.71	50.92	4.50	63.76	4:35.15	8266
6	John Crist	United States	11.33	6.98w	14.05	2.06	48.45	15.01	46.18	4.80	61.88	4:23.78	8130
7	Jim Wooding	United States	11.04	7.01	13.90	1.97	47.62	14.57	47.38	4.60	57.20	4:28.31	8091
8	Dave Steen	Canada	11.20	7.41w	12.57	2.03	48.09	15.39	44.04	4.80	56.92	4:17.70	8047
9	Georg Werthner	Austria	11.41	6.96	13.80	1.94	49.44	15.36	41.18	4.70	76.96	4:16.41	8012
10	Michele Rüfenacht	Switzerland	10.72	6.96	13.86	2.00	48.63	14.57	45.30	4.30	55.10	4:39.47	7924
11	Bradley McStravick	Great Britain	10.92	6.82	13.38	1.94	48.68	15.01	45.54	4.30	61.54	4:25.15	7890
12	Tim Bright	United States	11.22	6.75	13.80	2.00	48.87	14.52	41.74	5.40	53.66	4:49.27	7862
13	Patrick Vetterli	Switzerland	11.44	7.13	13.88	2.03	49.83	15.14	43.82	4.50	64.66	4:55.06	7739
14	Peter Hadfield	Australia	11.15	7.13	13.68	1.76	48.50	15.05	43.36	4.50	55.22	4:25.90	7683
15	Weng Kangqiang	China	11.28	7.30	12.45	1.88	50.52	15.21	38.74	4.60	69.72	4:34.10	7662
16	Ku Chin-shui	Chinese Taipei	11.42	6.89	12.76	2.03	50.59	14.91	39.70	4.90	62.36	4:50.75	7629
17	Trond Skramstad	Norway	11.20	7.18	14.20	1.85	49.25	15.08	40.02	4.50	54.94	4:43.02	7579
18	Douglas Fernández	Venezuela	11.59	6.74	13.12	1.88	49.83	16.05	43.52	4.40	67.12	4:23.96	7553
19	Lee Fu-an	Chinese Taipei	10.98	7.00	13.02	2.03	49.67	15.49	37.10	4.50	54.96	4:45.87	7541
20	Colin Boreham	Great Britain	11.46	6.90	13.51	1.97	50.19	15.48	44.10	4.20	52.66	4:32.50	7485
21	Mohamed Mansour Salah	Qatar	11.51	6.62	11.54	1.88	52.04	16.20	36.26	3.50	45.02	4:35.64	6589
22	Claudio Escauriza	Paraguay	11.66	6.51	14.10	1.82	53.06	17.51	47.76	4.00	64.16	DNF	6546
23	Fidel Solórzano	Ecuador	11.15	6.99	10.09	1.94	49.24	16.22	33.54	3.10	48.66	5:07.38	6519
24	Ángel Díaz	Guatemala	11.54	6.48	9.62	1.91	52.08	16.02	28.68	3.30	47.96	4:26.11	6342
25	Vivian Coralie	Mauritius	11.37	5.84w	9.79	1.82	51.28	16.39	32.92	3.00	41.58	4:26.26	6084
	Albert Miller	Fiji	11.48	6.32	13.07	1.91	50.22	15.36	38.46	NM	DNS	–	DNF

Footnotes

^ Jenner's 1976 performance was officially calculated as 8618 using a 400m time of 50.0.^[2] From 1977, the IAAF required 400m times accurate to 100th of a second; Jenner's 50.04 was worth one point less. Both figures have been quoted subsequently.^[2]
^ Originally 8797 OR

References

^ "Athletics at the 1984 Los Angeles Summer Games: Men's Decathlon". sports-reference.com. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 26 January 2018.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j Hymans, Richard; Matrahazi, Imre (2015). "Decathlon". Progression of IAAF World Records (PDF). pp. 216–217. Retrieved 8 January 2019.
^ ^a ^b Litsky, Frank (10 August 1984). "Thompson Wins His 2d Olympic Decathlon". The New York Times. p. 1. Retrieved 10 January 2019.
^ Bagchi, Rob (4 April 2012). "50 stunning Olympic moments No21: Daley Thompson wins 1984 decathlon". The Guardian. Retrieved 10 January 2019.
^ "Sports People; Record to Thompson". The New York Times. 16 May 1986. p. 24. Retrieved 10 January 2019.