A heptathlon is a

track and field Track and field (or athletics in British English) is a sport that includes Competition#Sports, athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name used in North America is derived from where the sport takes place, a ru ...

combined events contest made up of seven events. The name derives from the Greek ἑπτά (hepta, meaning "seven") and ἄθλος (áthlos, or ἄθλον, áthlon, meaning "competition"). A competitor in a heptathlon is referred to as a heptathlete. There are two heptathlons – the men's and the women's heptathlon – composed of different events. The men's heptathlon is older and is currently held indoors, contested at the IAAF World Indoor Championships in Athletics. The women's heptathlon is held outdoors and was introduced in the 1980s, first appearing in the Olympics in 1984. It is currently contested in the athletics programme of the Olympics and at the

World Athletics Championships The World Athletics Championships, known as the IAAF World Championships in Athletics until 2019, are a biennial sport of athletics, athletics competition organized by World Athletics, formerly International Association of Athletics Federations ...

Women's heptathlon

Women's heptathlon is the combined event for women contested in the athletics programme of the Olympics and at the

. The World Athletics Combined Events Tour 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: * 100 metres hurdles * High jump *

Shot put The shot put is a track-and-field event involving "putting" (throwing) a heavy spherical Ball (sports), ball—the ''shot''—as far as possible. For men, the sport has been a part of the Olympic Games, modern Olympics since their 1896 Summer Olym ...

* 200 metres *

Long jump The long jump is a track and field event in which athletes combine speed, strength and agility in an attempt to leap as far as possible from a takeoff point. Along with the triple jump, the two events that measure jumping for distance as a gr ...

* Javelin throw * 800 metres 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 The 1984 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXIII Olympiad and commonly known as Los Angeles 1984) were an international multi-sport event held from July 28 to August 12, 1984, in Los Angeles, California, United States. It marked the ...

. 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

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has begun keeping records for it, but the heptathlon remains the championship-level combined event for women. Nafissatou Thiam, representing Belgium, is the 2024 Olympic Gold Medallist, after successfully defending her previous 2016 and

2020 The year 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of even ...

titles. She is also the reigning European Champion. Katarina Johnson-Thompson, representing Great Britain, is the current World Champion and Commonwealth Champion. Odile Ahouanwanou. Yekaterina Voronina, Kiara Reddingius, Luisarys Toledo and Ariana Ince hold the African, Asian, Oceanian, South American and NACAC (North American, Central American and Caribbean) titles respectively. Adriana Rodríguez, Marthe Koala, Swapna Barman and Elenani Tinai hold the Panamerican Games, African Games, Asian Games and Pacific Games titles respectively. There is also a Tetradecathlon, which is a double heptathlon, consisting of 14 events, seven events per day.

Points system

The heptathlon scoring system was devised by Dr Karl Ulbrich, a Viennese mathematician. The formulae are constructed so that, for each event, a designated benchmark performance (for example, approximately 1.82 m for the high jump) scores 1000 points. Each event also has a minimum recordable performance level (e.g. 0.75 m for the high jump), corresponding to zero points. The formulae are devised so that successive constant increments in performance correspond to gradually increasing increments in points awarded. The events are split into three groups, and the scores are calculated according to the three formulae: :Running events (200 m, 800 m and 100 m hurdles): ::

P =  INT  (a \cdot (b - T)^c

) :Jumping events (high jump and long jump): ::

P =  INT  (a \cdot (M - b)^c

) :Throwing events (shot put and javelin): ::

P =  INT  (a \cdot (D - b)^c

) ''P'' is for points, ''T'' is for time in seconds, ''M'' is for height or distance in centimeters and ''D'' is distance in meters. ''a'', ''b'' and ''c'' have different values for each of the events, as follows:

Benchmarks

The following table shows the benchmark levels needed to earn 1000, 900, 800 and 700 points in each event.

Women's world records compared with heptathlon bests

Men's heptathlon

The other version is an indoor competition, normally contested by men only. 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: * 60 metres *

long jump The long jump is a track and field event in which athletes combine speed, strength and agility in an attempt to leap as far as possible from a takeoff point. Along with the triple jump, the two events that measure jumping for distance as a gr ...

shot put The shot put is a track-and-field event involving "putting" (throwing) a heavy spherical Ball (sports), ball—the ''shot''—as far as possible. For men, the sport has been a part of the Olympic Games, modern Olympics since their 1896 Summer Olym ...

* high jump * 60 metres hurdles * pole vault * 1000 metres The scoring is similar for both versions. In each event, the athlete scores points for his performance in each event according to scoring tables issued by the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF).
The athlete accumulating the highest number of points wins the competition.

Benchmarks

The following table shows the minimum benchmark levels required to earn 1000 points in each event.

Men's world records compared with heptathlon bests

All-time top 25

Women

*Heptathlon – women – senior – outdoor
IAAF. Retrieved on 2014-01-25.

Notes

Below is a list of all other scores equal or superior to 6875 pts: * Jackie Joyner-Kersee also scored 7215 (1988), 7158 (1986), 7148 (1986), 7128 (1987), 7044 (1992), 6979 (1987), 6910 (1986), 6878 (1991). * Carolina Klüft also scored 7001 (2003), 6952 (2004), 6887 (2005). * Anna Hall also scored 6988 (2023). * Nafissatou Thiam also scored 6947 (2022), 6880 (2024). * Jessica Ennis also scored 6906 (2012). * Sabine Paetz also scored 6897 (1988). * Larisa Nikitina also scored 6875 (1989).

Annulled marks

* Tatyana Chernova scored 6880 (2011), this performance was annulled due to doping offences.

Men

*Heptathlon – men – senior – indoor
IAAF. Retrieved on 2023-01-31.

Notes

Below is a list of all other scores equal or superior to 6320 pts: * Ashton Eaton also scored 6632 (2014), 6568 (2011), 6499 (2010), 6470 (2016). * Sander Skotheim also scored 6484 (2025), 6475 (2025), 6407 (2024). * Roman Šebrle also scored 6420 (2001), 6358 (2000), 6350 (2004). * Simon Ehammer also scored 6418 (2024), 6363 (2022). * Kyle Garland also scored 6415 (2023). * Kevin Mayer also scored 6392 (2021), 6348 (2018, 2023). * Sebastian Chmara also scored 6386 (1999). * Johannes Erm also scored 6380 (2025), 6340 (2024). * Bryan Clay also scored 6365 (2004). * Damian Warner also scored 6343. * Eelco Sintnicolaas also scored 6341 (2013).

Medalists

Women's Olympic medalists

Women's World Championships medalists

Men's World Indoor Championships medalists

Season's bests