What does decathlon mean?
A decathlon is an athletic competition in which each participant contests ten different track and field events, typically spread across two consecutive days. The events include sprints such as the 100 metres and 400 metres, distance running like the 1500 metres, hurdles, jumps including the long jump and high jump, pole vault, and throws comprising shot put, discus, and javelin. Points are awarded for performances in each event according to standardized scoring tables, and the athlete with the highest combined total wins. Introduced as an Olympic event in 1912, the decathlon has become the sport's premier all-round test, and its winner is often popularly dubbed the world's greatest athlete. Beyond athletics, the word occasionally appears figuratively to describe any undertaking that demands mastery of many varied skills, lending it connotations of versatility, endurance, and excellence across the board.
An athletic contest consisting of ten track and field events, held over two days, scored by points accumulated across all events.
"The decathlon concluded with a grueling 1500-metre run on the second day of competition."
Often preceded by 'the' when referring to the Olympic event: 'the Olympic decathlon'.
By extension, any challenging endeavor requiring competence across many diverse areas.
"Managing the festival was a decathlon of budgeting, booking, and crowd control."
Standard regular plural, used when referring to multiple instances or competitions.
"He competed in three Olympic decathlons over his career."
The word 'decathlon' literally means 'ten contests' in Greek — and the Olympic gold medalist in it is traditionally called the 'world's greatest athlete.'
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of decathlon
Decathlon derives from Greek roots: 'deka', meaning ten, and 'athlon', meaning contest or prize. The term was coined in the early twentieth century when the modern ten-event competition was formalized; it entered English around the time the event debuted at the 1912 Stockholm Olympics. It shares its second element 'athlon' with related athletic terms such as pentathlon, heptathlon, and triathlon, which follow the same Greek pattern of prefix plus 'athlon' to denote multi-event contests of varying length.
Related word forms
How decathlon is actually used
Decathlon is used almost exclusively in sporting contexts, with occasional figurative use to describe a task requiring many different skills. It takes standard pluralization ('decathlons'). The competitor is a 'decathlete'.
Easily confused with decathlon
The heptathlon is a seven-event athletics contest (typically for women), whereas the decathlon is a ten-event contest.
A triathlon consists of three events — swimming, cycling, and running — while a decathlon comprises ten track and field events.