- Heptathlon
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A heptathlon is a track and field athletics combined events contest made up of seven events. The name derives from the Greek hepta (seven) and athlon (contest). A competitor in a heptathlon is referred to as a heptathlete.
Contents
Women's Heptathlon
There are two versions of the heptathlon. The first is an outdoor competition for women, and is the combined event for women contested in the Athletics program of the Olympics and in the IAAF World Championships in Athletics. The IAAF World Combined Events Challenge determines a yearly women's heptathlon champion. The women's outdoor heptathlon consists of the following events, with the first four contested on the first day, and the remaining three on day two:
The heptathlon has been contested by female athletes since the early 1980s, when it replaced the pentathlon as the primary women's combined event contest (the javelin throw and 800 m were added). It was first contested at the Olympic level in the 1984 Summer Olympics. In recent years some women's decathlon competitions have been conducted, consisting of the same events as the men's competition in a slightly different order, and the IAAF has begun keeping records for it. But the heptathlon remains the championship-level combined event for women. Tatyana Chernova is the current World Champion, having defeated Jessica Ennis of Great Britain, who placed second in the 2011 world championships.
There is also a Tetradecathlon, which is a double heptathlon, consisting of 14 events, seven events per day.
Point system
Event a b c 200 meters 4.99087 42.5 1.81 800 meters 0.11193 254 1.88 100 metres hurdles 9.23076 26.7 1.835 High Jump 1.84523 75.0 1.348 Long Jump 0.188807 210 1.41 Shot Put 56.0211 1.50 1.05 Javelin Throw 15.9803 3.80 1.04 The scoring system was developed by Dr. Karl Ulbrich. The events are split into three parts, where the scores are counted according to the three formulae:
- Running events (200m, 800m and 100m hurdles):
- Jumping events (high jump and long jump):
- Throwing events (shot put and javelin):
P is for points, T is for time in seconds, M is for height/length in centimeters and D is length in meters. a, b and c have different values for the each of the events. (see table)
Benchmarks
The following table shows the minimum benchmark levels required to earn 1000 points in each event of the heptathlon:
Event Required for 1000pts Units 100m Hurdles 13.85 Seconds High Jump 1.82 Meters Shot Put 17.07 Meters 200m 23.80 Seconds Long Jump 6.48 Meters Javelin Throw 57.18 Meters 800m 127.63 Seconds Top ten performers
- Accurate as of August 2011
POINTS ATHLETE VENUE DATE 7291 Jackie Joyner-Kersee (USA)
Seoul 1988-09-24 7032 Carolina Klüft (SWE)
Osaka 2007-08-26 7007 Larisa Turchinskaya (URS)
Bryansk 1989-06-11 6985 Sabine Braun (GER)
Götzis 1992-05-31 6946 Sabine John (GDR)
Potsdam 1984-05-06 6942 Ghada Shouaa (SYR)
Götzis 1996-05-26 6935 Ramona Neubert (GDR)
Moscow 1983-06-19 6889 Eunice Barber (FRA)
Arles 2005-06-05 6880 Tatyana Chernova (RUS)
Daegu 2011-08-30 6859 Natalya Shubenkova (URS)
Kiev 1984-06-21 World records (WR) compared to Heptathlon Bests (HB)
Event WR–World record/
HB–Heptathlon bestAthlete Record Score Difference in points scored Notes 100m Hurdles WR Yordanka Donkova 12.21 s 1246 HB Eunice Barber 12.62 s 1182 −64 High Jump WR Stefka Kostadinova 2.09 m 1359 HB Tia Hellebaut 1.97 m 1198 −161 Shot Put WR Natalya Lisovskaya 22.63 m 1378 HB Nataliya Dobrynska 17.29 m 1015 −363 200m WR Florence Griffith Joyner 21.34 s 1251 HB Jackie Joyner Kersee 22.30 s 1150 −101 Long Jump WR Galina Chistyakova 7.52 m 1351 HB Jackie Joyner Kersee 7.27 m 1264 −87 Javelin[note 1] WR Barbora Spotakova 72.28 m 1295 HB Margaret Simpson 56.36 m 984 −311 current 1999 model HB Tessa Sanderson 64.64 m 1145 −150 old model 800m WR Jarmila Kratochvilova 1.53.28 1224 HB Nadine Debois 2.01.84 1087 −137 Total World record 9104 Heptathlon Bests 7879 Men's heptathlon
The other version is an indoor competition, normally contested only by men. It is the men's combined event in the IAAF World Indoor Championships in Athletics. The men's indoor heptathlon consists of the following events, with the first four contested on the first day, and remaining three on day two:
The scoring is similar for both versions. In each event, the athlete scores points for his/her performance in each event according to scoring tables issued by the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF).[1] The athlete accumulating the highest number of points wins the competition.
Best year performance
Women's seasons best (outdoor)
National records
- As of August 2010
POINTS NATION ATHLETE DATE PLACE 7291 USA
Jackie Joyner-Kersee 1988-09-24 Seoul 7032 SWE
Carolina Klüft 2007-08-26 Osaka 7007 RUS
Larisa Nikitina 1989-06-11 Bryansk 6985 GER
Sabine Braun 1992-05-31 Götzis 6942 SYR
Ghada Shouaa 1996-05-26 Götzis 6889 FRA
Eunice Barber 2005-06-05 Arles 6832 UKR
Lyudmyla Blonska 2007-08-26 Osaka 6831 GBR
Denise Lewis 2000-07-30 Talence 6750 CHN
Ma Miaolan 1993-09-12 Beijing 6695 AUS
Jane Flemming 1990-01-28 Auckland 6658 BUL
Svetla Dimitrova 1992-05-31 Götzis 6635 BLR
Svetlana Buraga 1993-08-18 Stuttgart 6619 ROM
Liliana Nastase 1992-08-02 Barcelona 6616 POL
Małgorzata Nowak 1985-08-31 Kobe 6604 LTU
Remigija Nazaroviene 1989-06-11 Bryansk 6573 HUN
Rita Inancsi 1994-05-29 Götzis 6527 JAM
Diane Guthrie-Gresham 1995-06-03 Knoxville 6490 CAN
Jessica Zelinka 2008-08-16 Beijing 6423 GHA
Margaret Simpson 2005-05-29 Götzis 6423 NED
Karin Ruckstuhl 2006-08-08 Gothenburg 6416 SLE
Eunice Barber 1996-09-15 Talence 6404 FIN
Satu Ruotsalainen 1991-08-27 Tokyo 6396 LAT
Aiga Grabuste 2009-07-19 Kaunas 6392 ALG
Yasmina Azzizi 1991-08-27 Tokyo 6371 URS
Vera Yurchenko 1987-09-20 Lvov 6352 CUB
Magalys García 1996-06-23 Havana 6278 NZL
Joanne Henry 1992-03-01 Auckland 6268 CZE
Zuzana Lajbnerová
Eliška Klučinová1988-06-19
2010-06-15Götzis
Kladno6265 SUI
Corinne Schneider 1985-06-16 Zug 6235 GRE
Aryiro Strataki 2006-05-28 Götzis 6230 POR
Naide Gomes 2005-07-17 Logroño 6226 NOR
Ida Marcusen 2007-08-26 Osaka 6215 EST
Larissa Netšeporuk 2003-07-06 Tallinn 6211 IND
Javur J. Shobha 2004-03-17 New Delhi 6201 BEL
Tia Hellebaut 2006-06-03 Götzis 6185 ITA
Gertrud Bacher 1999-05-09 Desenzano del Garda 6076 BRA
Lucimara da Silva 2008-08-16 Beijing 6031 ISR
Svetlana Gnezdilov 2003-08-13 Tel Aviv 5962 JPN
Yuki Nakata 2004-06-05 Tottori 5860 ESP
María Peinado 2002-07-14 Castellón See also
Other multiple event contests
- Biathlon
- Duathlon
- Triathlon
- Quadrathlon
- Pentathlon
- Modern pentathlon
- Octathlon (primarily a youth or junior event although logistical problems have seen senior octathlons contested, for example at the 2007 South Pacific Games)
- Decathlon
- Biathle
- Chess-boxing
Notes
References
External links
- National Records
- IAAF combined events scoring tables and explanation
- Heptathlon all-time list
- Heptathlon points counter (Finnish)
Olympic Champions in Women's Pentathlon and Heptathlon Pentathlon - 1964: Irina Press (URS)
- 1968: Ingrid Becker (FRG)
- 1972: Mary Peters (GBR)
- 1976: Siegrun Siegl (GDR)
- 1980: Nadezhda Tkachenko (URS)
Heptathlon - 1984: Glynis Nunn (AUS)
- 1988: Jackie Joyner-Kersee (USA)
- 1992: Jackie Joyner-Kersee (USA)
- 1996: Ghada Shouaa (SYR)
- 2000: Denise Lewis (GBR)
- 2004: Carolina Klüft (SWE)
- 2008: Nataliya Dobrynska (UKR)
Events in the sport of athletics Track Sprints Hurdles 50 m · 55 m · 60 m · 100 m · 110 m · 400 mMiddle distance Long distance Relays 4 × 100 m · 4 × 200 m · 4 × 400 m · 4 × 800 m · 4 × 1500 m · Distance medley relay · Sprint medley relay · Swedish relayField Throws Jumps Combined Road Running Walking 10 km · 20 km · 50 kmCategories:- Endurance sports
- Events in athletics (track and field)
- Individual sports
- Multi-discipline sports
- Running events (200m, 800m and 100m hurdles):
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