Sheldon Blockburger (born September 19, 1964) is a retired male
decathlete
The decathlon is a combined event in athletics consisting of ten track and field events. The word "decathlon" was formed, in analogy to the word "pentathlon", from Greek δέκα (''déka'', meaning "ten") and ἄθλος (''áthlos'', or ἄθ ...
from the
United States, who competed in the late 1980s and the early 1990s. He won the SEC Decathlon Championship in 1986 (breaking the SEC record) and won the 1987 SEC indoor pentathlon title with a world record score of 4451. He set his personal best in the men's decathlon event (8301 points) on June 13, 1990, at the US National Championships in
Norwalk, California. He won the bronze medal at the
1991 Pan American Games
The 1991 Pan American Games were held in Havana, Cuba from August 2 to August 18, 1991. There were 4,519 athletes from 39 countries of the Pan American Sports Organization, PASO community, with events in 33 different sports. The main stadium was ...
. He was also the first ever American champion in the indoor
heptathlon
A heptathlon is a track and field combined events contest made up of seven events. The name derives from the Greek επτά (hepta, meaning "seven") and ἄθλος (áthlos, or ἄθλον, áthlon, meaning "competition"). A competitor in a hept ...
in 1995.
[http://www.legacy.usatf.org/statistics/USA-Champions/USAIndoorTF/men/Hept.aspx] In 1993, he became the first American to win the Italian Multi Stars decathlon, scoring 8296. In 1994, he became the first American to break 8000 points in the prestigious Hypo Bank meeting in Gotzis, Austria. Blockburger began his college coaching career in 1996 at California Polytechnic State University San Luis Obispo and coached three NCAA track and field champions. He left Cal Poly in 2005 for another coaching position at the university of Arizona. While at Arizona Blockburger coached 11 NCAA champions (9 x high jump, 2 x decathlon) and had 5 runner up finishes. He left for USC in 2015, where he had two NCAA high jump champions and was a part of the 2018 Women’s team NCAA Championship. He returned to the University of Arizona in 2018 and left after the COVID-19 shortened 2020 season. Blockburger coached athletes at the 2003, 2007, 2009, 2011 and 2013 IAAF Track and Field World Championships with high jumper Brigetta Barrett winning the silver medal at 2.00m. He coached in the 2004 and 2012 Olympics with Brigetta Barrett winning the silver medal with a NCAA record jump of 2.03m (6-8”). Blockburger has twins that were born in 2002 and is married to Cynthia.
Achievements
References
Profile
1964 births
Living people
American male decathletes
Athletes (track and field) at the 1991 Pan American Games
Pan American Games medalists in athletics (track and field)
Pan American Games bronze medalists for the United States
Medalists at the 1991 Pan American Games
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