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If you were to ask people who the best athlete in the world is, what type of responses do you think you would get? I’d be willing to bet you’d get answers like LeBron James, Tiger Woods, Calvin Johnson, Mike Trout, or many other popular sports figures. While all of these athletes are undoubtedly dominant figures in their respective sport they do not possess the overall athleticism to be considered the world’s premier athlete. The best athlete should be an all-around figure who has equal strength, explosion and stamina to compete on a world class level. There is only one group of athletes in the sports world that fits this criteria: the decathlete.
The decathlon is a grueling event that your average athlete cannot compete in. It consists of doing 10 events over two days. Day One is composed of the 100m Dash, Long Jump, Shot Put, High Jump and 400m Run. Day Two is the 110m Hurdle Dash, Discus, Pole Vault, Javelin and ending with the 1500m Run. The event is based on a point system that is broken down into four tiers of standards that determine the points awarded based off a formula created by the IAAF. Essentially they are doing on the track what Cross Fit athletes are attempting to do in an arena but with better quality and much less exposure.
Many Americans know the name Bruce Jenner for being a great decathlete, the first athlete to grace the cover of a Wheaties box, as well as the reality TV star that he has become. But before him and since his retirement there have been much better decathletes that have gone unrecognized. Americans have a great track record in the event besides Jenner, great names like Jim Thorpe who won gold in 1912 with a score of 8,413 points; Bob Mathias, who earned his first Olympic gold at the age of 17, winning in two separate Olympics with a personal best score of 7,887 points; Dan O’Brien, a multiple winner of the event on many world stages with a personal best of 8,891 points; and Brian Clay, who dominated the event with a personal best of 8,832 points.
Enter the next great American and current world record holder in the event, Ashton Eaton, who broke the record with a score of 9,039. Since coming onto the international scene in 2009, he has only failed to win twice in an international event claiming an Olympic Gold in 2012 and a World Championship in 2013. At the young age of 26 he still has time to grow as a competitor and claim many more victories and world titles, and likely break his own record. He is one of the premier athletes in the world of track and field and should be recognized for his many great achievements on the track, the field and the jumping pits. To show his skills numerically, the chart below will display Eaton’s personal best marks in each event of the decathlon and how they match up to the collegiate best mark this year and the world record mark.
| Event | Aston Eaton PR | Collegiate Records | World Record |
| 100m | 10.21 | 9.89 | 9.58 |
| 400m | 45.64 | 44.00 | 43.18 |
| 1500m | 4:14.48 | 3.35.30 | 3:26.00 |
| 110m Hurdles | 13.35 | 13.00 | 12.80 |
| High Jump | 2.11m (6ft 11in) | 2.38m (7ft 9in) | 2.45m (8ft) |
| Pole Vault | 5.30m (17ft 4in) | 5.98m (19ft 7in) | 6.16m (20ft 2in) |
| Long Jump | 8.23m (27ft) | 8.74m (28ft 8in) | 8.95m (29ft 4in) |
| Shot Put | 15.40m (50ft 6in) | 22.00m (70ft 2in) | 23.12m (75ft 10in) |
| Discus | 47.36m (155ft 4in) | 68.16m (223ft 7in) | 74.08m (243ft) |
| Javelin | 66.64m (218ft 7in) | 89.10m (292ft 3in) | 98.48m (323ft 1in) |
The chart shows that Eaton is on the cusp of being at the elite level in almost each event that makes up the decathlon. In the events that he lacks he does well enough to still garner a great amount of points that keep him at the top of the sport. Eaton uses techniques and muscles within a two day period that other athletes take entire careers to master. When he is not competing in the decathlon he is racing, jumping or throwing individually and usually for some pretty high marks. His 200m PR 20.76 seconds is only 1.57 seconds off the world record mark of 19.19 seconds set by Usain Bolt.
Having the ability to complete a decathlon is a physical feat but to do it at the highest level can only be accomplished by a truly elite athlete. In all other sports, an athlete needs to have a specific skill set, but a decathlete must excel at almost all of the skills that it takes to do any other sport. So while the athletes mentioned in the opening paragraph are great, I think it is safe to assume that they would not be able to do all 10 events on a level that would make them elite decathletes. So the next time you’re faced with the question of who the greatest athlete in the world is, don’t forget the name Ashton Eaton.
Sources:
http://www.iaaf.org/athletes/united-states/ashton-eaton-231489#personal-bests
https://www.trackandfieldnews.com/index.php/records/30-records/274-mens-outdoor-world-records
https://www.trackandfieldnews.com/index.php/records/30-records/276-mens-outdoor-collegiate-records
http://www.oocities.org/mdetting/sports/decathlon-points-formula.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Decathlon
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bryan_Clay
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1952_Summer_Olympics
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Thorpe
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dan_O%27Brien
http://www.metric-conversions.org/length/meters-to-feet.htm