Heptathlon
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.
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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 best |
Athlete | 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
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)
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